Pokemon: broken Demons and Angels
by masterdude21
Summary: After an incident with a slipspace jump, a lone Spartan finds himself stranded on the edge of the galaxy on a world inhabited with the strangest creatures he has ever seen. He must overcome the many dangers that this world poses as well as his personal demons. But does he have to do so alone? Plans have been set in motion- stakes have been set. Part one of the Scattered series.
1. Saving grace

**Hallo people.** **While this isn't my first fanfiction, this is the first one containing a crossover. And the first one containing Halo- which is my favourite game. And the first one containing Pokémon, which might be a bit confusing when coupled with the aforementioned titles and names. For this particular story I will use mostly the game lore, because the anime… well, anime.**

_Millions of stars burn bright across the system, Countless wonders span wide and far, waiting to be discovered by travellers with the courage to brave them. But however many wonders a galaxy might contain, most if not all of them are useless when the travellers are faced with extinction. _

"Jacobs! Take evasive manoeuvres!"

"Yes sir."

_Such was the case with humanity. Fighting a war for decades, losing planet after planet. Day after day millions of innocents are being slaughtered, burned from above or murdered by overwhelming enemies._

"Sir! Enemy Carrier is releasing a squadron of Seraph fighters, together with a dozen… make that two dozen troop transports!"

_Humanity was at war. A relentless, religious enemy was systematically hunting them down and murdering them. Multiple dozens of worlds had died in flames, molten slags of glass was all that would be left of them. So many had died, most species would have given up hope of surviving._

"Spin up the autocannons and target those boats. I want the troop transports dead ASAP."

"Firing guns."

_But not humanity. Not Mankind. They were born survivors, doing everything to ensure their survival as a species. Never would their soldiers give up hope, never would they allow their families and loved ones to be harmed._

Jacobs, the only AI onboard, was a so-called dumb AI. He could never reach the full-blown personalities of smart AI's neither could his imagination reach infinity. He was, however, very good at doing his job. Which was ship navigation and repelling single-ship fighters

'This is all going to hell…' Captain Spenser thought. Ryan Spenser was a middle-aged man, smart with navigation and fair to his crew. When his ship jumped to a random slipspace trajectory to escape destruction at the hands of the Covenant, he had not expected to find himself in Covenant controlled space. His ship was a Destroyer, 500 meters long and in possession of two meters thick armour plating, two MAC-cannons and more than 30 oversized Archer-Missile pods. It was a beauty, as deadly as it was efficient. And it still wasn't enough to prevent the Covenant from burning Aegis III. The alien bastards had found their planet purely by chance, which was all the more cruel. One would think that humanity would get a bit relieve from fate, that they would get a stroke of luck now and then?

Hell no.

"Sir, enemy fighters are targeting our autocannons! They are trying to punch through a hole to get their transports to board us!" Navigational officer Jones yelled.

'Why would they waste troops trying to tale our ship when they could simply have their carrier blast us to hell?' The captain thought.

Their ship had stumbled into Covenant held space by accident, their only saving grace was the fact that they were only facing one enemy vessel. Even so, the UNSC only won battles in space when they outnumbered the enemy three to one. This was not a fight they could win.

"Adams!" Captain Ryan yelled. "Warm up the MAC cannon and prepare to fire at coordinates three-two-zero by eight-five three."

"Sir!"

_Humanity's warriors were fierce and brave, never fearing death. However, not even such bravery would save them from overwhelming odds._

Captain Spenser and his crew were- strictly speaking- not in this sector of space. They were not even on a mission. They didn't exist, strictly speaking. They were a black operations skeleton crew, just enough to pilot the ship to its destination- which was classified.

They originated from the Office of Naval Intelligence, ONI for short. The organisation that protected mankind, developed technologies and what not. At least that was what the civilian population thought. Almost everyone knew that ONI was hardcore in its plight for humanity, the cruel deeds it would commit.

The most prominent project that ONI created- with the help of Catherine Halsey- was the SPARTAN-II program. Actually designed to counter the growing amount of rebellion activity, the SPARTAN program was the real tide-turner in the war. Wherever a Spartan appeared, soldiers would rally and fight with renewed vigour. They inspired hope in everyone they met- while at the same time being avoided and shunned when the rare occasion arose that people would meet them outside of the battlefield.

Because humans were like that. Fear that which is strange. Even though the majority of mankind loved the Spartans, they never knew what actually made them. How they came to be. As they damn well never should. Only a few knew of the truth behind the SPARTANS project. If they ever found out, people would frown upon the UNSC. Their main source of defence and recourses.

The SPARTAN-II project wasn't the only project that ONI came up with to improve the war effort, oh no.

"MAC cannon is ready to fire sir!" Adams yelled.

"Fire at will!"

A shudder shot through the UNSC Platernus as two bolts of white-hot metal were launched from its sides. The two 600-ton MAC rounds raced through the vacuum, as if they were trying to best each other. The Covenant carrier saw the threat coming and tried to take evasive manoeuvres. Whoever was piloting that vessel wasn't smart- or fast- enough to move their ship in such short notice and the twin bolts smacked into its sides.

The ship spun with momentum and for a moment, its underside floated up. The two MAC rounds had hit the shield while it still possessed its 100% strength. Their momentum got divided and spread alongside the sides as the shield tried to smoothen up the damage. But the two rounds had hit the ship almost at the same time, nearly at the same spot. MAC rounds weren't naturally that accurate, but Jacobs had the tendency to overcome that inaccuracy by adjusting the fire controls. He wasn't ordered to do so- a fact that might have disturbed Captain Spenser somewhat, had it not been for the AI's destructive results. Because of the sheer accuracy of the hit, the Carrier's shields were unable to smoothen up the damage without flickering- and than fading away.

One or two crewmembers cheered or mumbled praises to their selves, but they were all chosen for this job for a reason and it was not unnecessary cheering that qualified them for it.

The victory was short-lived however; as many seraph fighters scored a direct hit on the 50 cal autocannons. Without those guns protecting the Destroyer's sides, the troop transports had no problem slipping past the UNSC's defences and boarding the vessel.

Alarms flared as the crew realised that some ships had managed to board them and they proceeded to take the necessary actions. Normally, the human defenders wouldn't have been a match for the Covenants troops. But there were to factions that played out to their chances. When the colony Aegis III was found by the Covenant, every available ship in slipspace was pulled to system defence duty. The Platernus was on its way with the valuable cargo to the mission-site when they received the planet's distress call and they were forced to stop halfway to come to the colony's aid. When it became apparent that the planet was doomed, every ship still in orbit took in as much humans as they could before jumping to random slipspace coordinates- as per Cole Protocol. Their destroyer had picked up two companies of marines- for a total of 328 soldiers- when their duty had come. Because of the presence of Zulu company and Foxtrot Company, the crew of the Platernus knew that they had to diverge from their route after they had emerged from their retreat. Because what good was a top-secret mission in outer space when you had more than three hundred men and women breathing down your neck? So they had to get rid of the soldiers before continuing their mission. But because of the fact that they immediately encountered Covenant ships after emerging from slipspace, these soldiers never got dropped off at a UNSC outpost. So when the covenant troops would board the Platernus, they would have to deal with 8 platoons of revenge-thirsty soldiers.

1-0 for their destroyer.

That being said, as soon as the enemy's shielding got breached, they had launched so many new fighters and troop transports that they could have put Earth's largest hornet's nest to shame many times over.

1-1 for the covenant.

But Zulu and Foxtrot Company weren't the only fighting force present on the Platernus. Every crewmember had received extensive combat training and there were two full platoons of battle-hardened Orbital Drop Shock Troopers present. That put the amount of soldiers on their ship to 400 combat ready soldiers. But besides that, there was one other warrior on board. A warrior that had spent the majority of the ride from Aegis III to wherever the hell they were now in cryo-sleep. A warrior so deadly, so powerful, that even the mighty Covenant feared him. He was a Spartan. While he wasn't exactly a SPARTAN-II- he also wasn't _not_ a SPARTAN-II. That was the main reason why all the secrecy was involved, because of his presence.

But because of the alien bastards that were about to enter his house, there was no choice but to wake him. Not that it mattered; the soldiers on board the destroyer wouldn't be able to tell whether or not he was a SPARTAN-II anyway. He wore fully functional MJOLNIR armour.

"Captain!" Jacobs said. Enemy transports have successfully penetrated our defences and are now unloading their troops. The Marines are engaging and Two-Sierra is fully active and ready for combat sir."

The AI looked like an old British soldier, complete with the fancy-ass moustache that adorned his upper-lip. Why AI's always had to choose such…weird appearances were beyond Ryan.

The captain scraped his throat and took a look at the dumb AI.

"Any idea why we weren't simply blown out of space the moment they encountered us?"

"My guess, sir, would be that they are planning to capture our ship-board Intel. And me."

"And by that, gain access to our most inner colonies. Like hell they will. Send a message to the Spartan. Tell him to head to engineering and greet our friends in person. The company leaders can decide where their marines can be the most effective. Tell the 35th to take up defensive formation to guard the bridge and the 58th to guard the barracks; we will need the equipment."

"Yes sir. "

As soon as the reports of the impending invasion forces had been spread amongst the Marine's officers, 2-Sierra was waked from cryo. The first thing that needed to be done though was to lead him through the mental tests to see if he was fully awake. After that was complete, he had received his orders.

"Spartan!" He remembered Captain Spenser saying. "I need you to go to engineering and prevent hostile forces from taking it. On the double!"

A dull 'Yes sir.' Had been his response- his mission seemed to have been endangered by the Covenant presence and he was not too happy about it. First they burn another colony of theirs and then they have the nerve to fight them as they are leaving for their next stop? Stupid covenant.

Judging tactical situations in space combat was something he usually left to the Captain of the ship, but this time he deemed it more… well, smart to simply make a new trajectory in slipspace and get the hell out of there. Then again, it would take several minutes for the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine- or the slipspace engine- to recharge. So whether they fought or not, they were still stuck there. And even if the engine recharged fast enough the covenant could still find it and destroy it, consuming the ship in the resulting explosion. No, the captain had made the right call. For now. What happened after the engine recharged would determine their fates. Until then, he would defend engineering until further notice.

On his way past the various marines and ODST's running about he received a fair share of glares. He paid them no mind and made his way to the barracks. If he was to repel a covenant invasion force, he would need guns. A lot of guns. Big guns with a lot of ammo.

"Sir!" One of the marine guards saluted him. "Follow me sir, the armoury is right this way."

The Spartan simply nodded and followed the excruciatingly slow soldier to the barracks. Once he had finally arrived, he walked past the segments containing the side-arms and stopped by the grenades. An explosion at the wrong moment or place could rupture the ship and blast everyone into vacuum. To counter that, the destroyer had lots of bulkheads- more so than the standard Destroyer had- to contain a breach to no more than half a dozen meters.

So he picked up four fragmentation grenades and two packs of C12 explosives; enough to blast a wraith tank two times over into oblivion.

After that he grabbed a fully loaded MA5C Assault rifle plus an m90 Shotgun for the really close work. Grabbing enough ammunition for multiple engagements he walked up to the heavy weapons segments. He suppressed the urge to grab a Jackhammer rocket launcher and moved on, knowing that the weapon was too heavy and cumbersome to carry with him all the time. It didn't really matter though; once this engagement was over he wouldn't even need it.

The clattering of automatic weapons discharging sounded in the distance and he knew that the conflict had begun. While the marines defended the key regions of the ship that got assigned to their squads, he would march onwards to the engineering part of the ship and dig in.

"Move it soldier!"

"Yes sergeant!"

"Get to cover men!"

Various cries and shouts filled the air as the Spartan passed various conflicts. The sight of him simply appearing at the firefights- clad in his snow white MJOLNIR armour and the EVA helmet that rested on his head- was enough to invoke new courage into the soldiers. Even though he only stopped to take down an Elite that was about to shoot one of the soldiers, or deliver the killing blow to a downed enemy about to draw a sidearm, he continued moving and never lingered longer than a few seconds.

He must have looked like an angel of death to them, he realised. He only showed up to save someone's life and then he moved on. Meh. It mattered little.

When he arrived at the intersection Engineering/Cargo-bay 1, he almost ran headfirst into an Elite clad in crimson armor.

'Damnit!' He thought as he backed up while firing his assault rifle. Why didn't his motion tracker warn him? Was it defect or something?

The alien warrior looked equally surprised. The fact that he had been stomping around the ship and encountered a Spartan at only two feet distance must have been a confusing situation for the bastard. Whatever the alien thought, it ceased as soon as the armor-piercing rounds fired by the Super-soldier whittled down his personal shielding and penetrated his brain.

As soon as the Elite toppled, the Spartan walked over and polished the alien's plasma rifle. Even though he had his own equipment at the ready, he had standing orders from Section Seven at ONI to obtain as much technology of the covenant as possible, so the engineers might be able to reverse-engineer them. At the very least that piece of alien hardware was more efficient at blasting down shielding. And armour. And flesh. Everything he encountered really.

He moved up to the entrance to the engineering department and was surprised to see that the covenant had already established a complete outpost in there. In the split-second that occurred after the door slit open he saw that the covenant had lugged two powerful shade turrets onboard and had set them up on the two catwalks that lined the far left and right walls. There were at least a dozen grunts- four of them veterans as their armour was crimson red- and five Elites. Three of them were blue-armoured rookies, one of them was a veteran like the one he had encountered on the intersection.

The last one wore golden armour and was armed with an energy sword.

Great.

When the doors opened some of the warriors turned, perhaps expecting to see the Elite that lay dead twenty feet back. What they obviously not expected was the white-armoured soldier that immediately opened fire and killed their two shade-gunners. After that the warrior shifted fire and fired a long burst into the head of the Elite that was the closest, overloading his shield and killing him instantly.

After the one-second time-lapse between the door opening and the weird soldier killing their turret support and one of their commanders, several grunts panicked and turned.

The golden Elite barked a few commands at them and then stabbed one of the fleeing grunts in his side, killing the cowardly creature.

Thankfully the little grunts had served their purpose all too well, as the Spartan used that brief moment of confusion to throw a grenade between the remaining pack of grunts and charged of to the consoles to his right, seeking cover from the barrage of plasma that was undoubtedly to follow. The grenade went of with a bang and blew five grunts to hell, together with red-coloured Elite. Another blue one was wounded by the explosion and, shocked and dazed as he was, clutched the stump where his left arm used to hang.

By the time the Spartan had reached his cover, the remaining forced returned fire. Plasma burned through layer after layer of metal and soon the console had enough holes for five ODST's to be able to fire through all at once, had they been there. The though was amusing to the soldier as he unslung his shotgun. He feigned to the right and then dashed from the left side of the console, jumping in the air and twisting to avoid the plasma fired. He pulled the trigger as fast as he could without tearing the gun apart and the slugs fired from the gun were enough to topple multiple grunts and finish off the wounded Elite. The Spartan landed in the midst of the confused covenant horde and dealt a powerful blow to a grunt in front of him, sending the alien sailing through the air and landing a dozen feet away. Like a blur he moved his limbs and fired his weapon until it was empty. By then the golden Elite had closed the distance and swung his blade at him, burning hotter than the sun and causing his internal temperature to spike.

The super-soldier remembered many moves to disarm and kill an opponent with a bladed weapon and one of those was the best suited, because it would deal with the two rookie elites that still stood as well. He stepped closer just as the Elite was about to swing again and sidestepped to his opponents' bladearm and spun around. He now stood next to the elite and had his left hand on his enemy's right. Then he placed his hind leg a step away and turned his body a few degrees more to his right, while at the same time assuming a lower stance. The sudden shift in movement and orientation point played hell with the Golden bastard's ability to stay upright. As the Spartan moved, the Elite went down and in a last desperate attempt to cleave the human in halve he swung his sword.

Having predicted that move, the human in question then spun to his left and delivered a powerful uppercut to the Alien's head. After that he spun his wrist around and ducked underneath the warrior's right arm, preventing himself from being swished in half. Because he still had some control over the Elite's wrist, the alien jerked from his movement and the blade swung to its side- causing a nasty cut in its side.  
The Commander roared in pain and anger, being unable to murder the lightning quick human. His frustration was short lived, as the Spartan brought his hand down on the Elite's neck and broke it with the powerful swipe. It went limp and- before the sword could clatter to the ground- the human spun around again, slicing the nearest Elite in half. Plasma fire hit him square in his chest and his shielding dropped dangerously low. Now he dropped the golden alien and jumped away, before the remaining few grunts and their only commander could kill him. Brandishing his assault rifle, he jumped to his right and squeezed off a few shots, toppling the grunts. The Elite roared with frustration and charged at the Spartan, firing his plasma rifle until it overheated.

His shielding now depleted and the suit temperature dangerously high, the human would be in serious trouble had his enemy still be able to fire at him. But now, as the Elite's weapon overheated, the Spartan closed in within a second and delivered a few crushing blows to the Alien's chest. Then he twisted on his leg and roundhouse kicked the bastard in his four mandibles, breaking its skull and its neck.

When the soldier had come to a still, he waited to see if any more threats arrived. They didn't. So he snatched a few plasma grenades from his fallen enemies and scanned his surroundings. The next wave of enemies would undoubtedly arrive soon and he was prepared.

Prepared with two shade turrets, multiple grenades and plasma to spare.

Time to go to work.

Captain Spenser swore underneath his breath as he issued order after order. Two more frigates had appeared out of slipspace. They would be within weapons range in less than four minutes and their destroyer still had five minutes to go. This was absolutely nerve-wrecking to his crewmen- some of which had suggested undergoing an underpowered jump. When Ryan had inquired whether that had ever happened, the AI told him that it had been attempted twice. And twice the ships had been completely annihilated.

So that left him with two options: one, remain there while the Shaw-Fujikawa engine recharged, repel borders and wait to see whether they would survive being a minute under covenant guns.

Two, take the jump without sufficient power and risk being completely destroyed. They couldn't risk it; the Spartan still had a job to do.

He had received some reports from both the Marines and the Spartan self, the first telling him that they managed to repel the enemy but that they had almost failed to do so.

The second telling him "enemy neutralised" before going silent again.

The whole situation could only get worse if the Spartan contacted him with the message that he had been unable to protect the engine. But that would never happen, as he told his crew. What he didn't tell them was that it would never happen, because the Spartan would fight to the death rather than confirm failure.

"Sir?" Jacobs inquired.

"Tell me some good news please!" Spenser asked the AI.

"The good news is that the soldiers are still preventing Covenant forces from destroying our vessel and that the enemy carrier is dead in space." The AI replied.

Spenser had heard that 'the good news is' tone before and he knew that it always had to be followed by a 'but the bad news is' remark.

"But the bad news…?" The captain began.

"The bad news is that the enemy frigates have begun charging their weapons. It would seem that the covenant changed their minds about not killing us."

"Which they normally never do." One of his crewmembers said.

"So they have seen fit in the situation to change their strategies…" Another one replied.

His crew raised a valid point. Why would the covenant refrain from killing them before trying to kill them?

The seconds ticked away and soon Jacobs spoke the dreaded words.

"Enemy within optimal range in 30 seconds."

Damnit. He was out of time. The slipspace engine still had to recharge for more than a minute; by then they would all be dead.

So it was die a certain death within a minute trying to fight or dying a less certain fight while trying to run- no, this wasn't running. They had to complete a very important objective. This would be advancing in the opposite direction.

"Jacobs… answer my questions ASAP and as simple as you can! Calculate what the charge of our Shaw-Fujikawa engine will be when those frigates open fire."

"Sir, one moment." Two seconds ticked by, valuable and safe. "93% sir."

"What is the chance of survival when we jump at 93% charge?"

"Without proper tests to compare and base my assumptions on I cannot tell whether it would be fifty or zero point zero fifty."

"Tell me!"

"Chances of success are at the most ten percent. At the very least…"

"Do it!" The captain interrupted the AI.

"Do what sir?" It asked.

"We are jumping to slipspace, as per Cole Protocol it has to be a randomised jump. Get to it people!" The crew jumped to attention.

"Five seconds until enemy weapons range!" Jacobs said.

Ryan grabbed the com unit and activated it with a bash of his fist.

"This is Captain Spenser! Brace for slipspace jump!" As he spoke, he could see the enemy frigates firing their weapons at his tactical map. They each fired two plasma bolts and then two more. That salvo was more than enough to completely destroy their ship.

"God speed sir…" The AI spoke with a voice that- for the very first time in his career- sounded apprehensive, if not downright sad. The AI probably knew that this would be the last time they worked together. "…it was an honour to serve with you."

"The honour has been all mine…" Ryan replied to the AI. After having exhausted every strategic option available to get them this far… they would die without ever having completed their newest objective. It had to end like this some day; the Spartan had completed at least a few dozen of such high-risk high-reward missions in top secrecy. Captain Spenser and his crew got to serve with him for only seven missions and they hadn't even gotten to know the Spartan. Not that it mattered much; no one ever gets to know a Spartan. And Ryan knew his crew- every single one of them. He could name them by their front names, name their families and sometimes children and their hobbies and fears. He couldn't have asked for a finer crew.

He had to let them know that! He suddenly realised. He had to let his crew realise that he cared for them if this wad truly to be their last moment together!

_Only a true wonder could save them now. And even though most wonders were useless when faced with extinction…_

The plasma raced towards them and the ship surged with energy not normally there when jumping to slipspace. The captain reached for the button and activated the comms unit. He had seconds to make his announcement.

"To everyone that can hear this: we are jumping to slipspace without having the power to normally do this. If we are to go down, let us choose our fate with two results: successful destruction or successful escape. It has been an honour serving with you all."

…_some wonders might have some use._

The Spartan gazed up at the engine he was supposed to defend as it produced the loudest and most alien sounds that he had ever heard. A bright purple field slowly extended from the Shaw-Fujikawa engine and then- suddenly- it expanded with a speed impossible to comprehend The Spartan had barely enough time to realise what was happening. After the captains ridiculously melancholic and feely message he knew that something might happen, but he never could have predicted this.

The field expanded with speed equal to a MAC cannon firing and surged through him. His shielding flared and dropped substantially, and he felt his skin simultaneously tickle and burn. His shielding dropped to zero and he felt an discharge echo through his neural interface and completely through his body. His veins were on fire, pain unlike he had ever felt since the Augmentation process. An involentury groan escaped his lips as his knees buckled and he fell forwards, weird flashes and images appearing and disappearing in front of his eyes. His mind faded in and out of consciousness and he lost all awareness of where he was.

Captain Ryan Spenser didn't realise what had happened, within one second his screen had turned black and every single system on the ship was shutting down. Then, what appeared to be a purple flash…happened and he ceased to be. His body went limp and tumbled to the floor, as did the bodies of every single human and alien onboard the ship.

The last remaining monitor in the bridge showed the vital signs of hundreds of humans' flatlining before it shortened out and exploded.

As the captains' body hit the ground, the Shipmaster of the Covenant frigate Holy Cleansing of Fate ordered his ship to approach the humans' vessel. He witnessed the ugly gray things' hull popping with a barely visible purple field, before the destroyer jumped to slipspace. Many radiation counters went of, but the shipmaster paid them no heed. His troops were perfectly safe, with the shielding of the frigates still active. However, the carrier Soft Solace had failed to capture the human ship and got destroyed for its troubles. Now, the ship vessel known as 'Pleatirnos' had disappeared together with the demon onboard, of which he had received multiple reports and confirmations. The particular demon that had been send on a most threatening goal, one that could possibly undermine the future operations of the holy covenant.

With a frustrated growl he slammed his hand on the console and opened the communication broadcaster to his sister ship.

"Prepare to return home..." He growled. We are done here my brothers."

_The UNSC- or United Nations Space Command is the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of Earth. The UNSC was formed halfway through the 22nd century when Earth began massively militarizing its off-world colonies via propaganda and then defeated communist and fascist forces in the "Interplanetary War" which consisted of several side-battles that took place on Mars, the Jovian Moons, and the South American rainforests. Although the Interplanetary War brought wrought great suffering and death unto Earth and its colonies, it united humanity's militaries into a common, armed force by the end of the 22nd century. Not everyone loves the UNSC tough, as a resilient and heavily dug in Rebellion called The Insurrectionists began terrorizing the UNSC and its civilians, somewhere in the late 25h century._

_-The source of the UNSC simplified, part 1_


	2. Original touchdown

**Chapter two of the story people! Please rate and comment and stuff. **

_The year is 2552. The covenant has been excessively active lately, as have we been. I have no idea what those alien bastards are planning…but I doubt it is as well thought as we are planning. We have just linked up with 2-Sierra zero-one-one and I've got to say… he looks like the real deal. Probably his armor, although I'm not too fond of his helmet. It's like a big…well, sniper's target. This is Ryan, signing off._

_-Captain Ryan Spenser- Officer's log 17_

The faint sounds of metal scraping over metal echoed through the hall, the only thing penetrating the thick silence that now filled the ship. With slow, a slow, exaggerate movement a blue console tilted over and hit the ground. The sounds it produced sounded hollow, like it wasn't really making any sounds.

An armoured glove appeared from underneath its edge. Flexing and pushing, the cumbersome console got shoved away- revealing the shape of a Spartan. The white armor was covered in small burns and scratches. The occasional yellow spark that ran along its sided was the only indication that the shielding was currently inactivated.

The figure rose and surveyed its surroundings. The floor was littered with discarded and empty weapons, magazines and broken pieces of equipment. Underneath that all were many hundreds of empty bullet casings, bras and shells alike. The walls and ceiling were covered with plasma burns and bullet-holes and scattered across many corners and holes were dozens upon dozens of bodies. It would appear that the Covenant had tried very hard to take engineering.

"This is Two-Sierra zero-one-one, does anyone read?" The Spartan spoke in his comm. No one answered; something that couldn't be very good. After he had recovered from the anomaly surrounding the slipspace engine he had immediately tried to get up and get a view on the situation.

That was when he had felt the big console lying on his chest. Not exactly a good sign either. But when the area proved to be clear of hostiles he relaxed. A bit.

"I repeat, this is Spartan zero-one-one, does anyone copy? Over!"

Silence.

Damnit.

He grabbed the nearest weapon- a covenant plasma rifle- and slowly moved towards the exit of the engineering room. While he scanned his surroundings, trying to get a bead on whatever had happened he thought of what was going on.

Why weren't there any fighting noises? Who had won the raging battles, why hadn't anybody tried to contact him?

As soon as he exited the door, it hit him like a Brute gravity hammer against the balls. He was right by the Destroyer's engines and he didn't hear a thing. No engines, no static and least of all any sort of presence of human beings. The ship was dead in space. Had the covenant captured them? No, that can't be it. Otherwise the ship would have been destroyed after their intel-scavenging. Maybe they were still capturing the ship?

Yes, that had to be it. They had eradicated all humans on the ship and were busy or nearly done with stealing humanity's secrets!

The Spartan began to sprint down the hallways. Left right left right one down left left right and straight up the ladder. Within two minutes he found himself near the bridge. He was right about his presumptions, every single marine or ODST he had encountered was dead. So he had ignored all the bodies and made his way to the captain's chair ASAP. There he found the old man, slumped to the ground in front of the primary console.

Lowering his weapon he kneeled down and checked Spenser's vital signs.

Nothing. The captain was dead- as was everyone else on the ship.

That led him to a few new…conundrums. If everyone had died then where was the covenant? There was no shortage of their bodies- but their bodies only. All the living ones were gone…dead? They hadn't managed to steal the location of earth, or else the Platernus would have been reduced to molten slag already. So what was it? Did the crew jump to slipspace in time to escape the covenant?

With a flash he remembered the Captain's last message, about the underpowered slipspace jump. It must have worked- but why was everybody dead?

He checked the bodies on the ground and found no signs of wounds, plasma or bullet. Had the covenant choked them? Poisoned them?

Unlikely.

He tried a few buttons on the command console, but nothing happened. Great. He was stuck inside of a dead ship.

That and everybody one board was dead. Over four hundred good willing men and women were gone, killed while fighting the covenant. How was he supposed to reach any form of civilisation whilst onboard a drifting ship? He turned and walked away from the captain's body, looking for anything useful.

Nothing. Not a single glowing screen, flaring button or sound existed on the ship. How much rations did he have? Air food and water?

His foot hit a piece of broken metal and it rolled across the ground, stopping when it hit a wall.

So gravity was still online? That meant that the ship's still got some power. It he could find that source of power… then maybe he could extrapolate it? He would have to try whatever he could if it meant getting back to the UNSC alive.

He looked around the bridge once more and then left. On his way to the artificial gravity-segment of the Platernus he passed even more dead bodies, Covenant and human alike. He didn't have time to pull all the bodies to a morgue of some sort, but he did kick each and every single covenant soldier in the head. Simply because he wanted to be sure that they were dead- mostly.

Eventually he arrived at Hangar bay 6, the bay where the crew had stored all the Spartan's equipment. A pelican dropship- modified with extra armor plating and armaments- stood there waiting for him. If necessary, he could blow the hangar bay door and ride that bird to a nearby planet. If it still had the power.

Whatever had happened had simultaneously wiped out the organic and electronic presence on the ship, frying both humans and computers alike. Was it some sort of powerful EMP bolt sent out by the underpowered jump? That was the most likely to have happened. He was protected inside his armour and the rest of the crew wasn't.

He ran past the hangar and stopped when he arrived at the gravity segment. The door was locked, however, so he wouldn't be able to get inside by normal mean. The door was just like an elevator's door: two plates of metal pushed against each other that slid into the wall.

He drew back his fist and smacked place where the two plates of metal met and created a large dent. Then he pried his fingers in between the doors. That took him half a minute, but by then he had gotten himself a decent grip.

Normal means? Fuck that, he was a Spartan.

Flexing his shoulders, he pulled the two doors open until the gap was large enough for him to pass through it. Once he did, he saw that he had reached what was perhaps the only part of the ship that still had power.

"Anyone home?" He asked over his comm. on a tight-beam broadcast. He didn't dare risk an open broadcast because of who might be listening in.

"Jacobs, is that you?"

A hologram appeared on a pedestal some meters away. Or rather, what a hologram would look like underwater on minimum power. Even with his augmented vision he could not clearly see what the little AI looked like now.

"S-s-s-s-s-sie-rrrr-rra?" A weird hollow voice responded on his transmission.

"It's me Jacobs, status report."

The moment captain Spenser had sent the ship into slipspace, Jacobs knew that he had to make a back-up of his most recent actions. Whatever happened, if anyone survived they would need his help to get the ship underway. So when the slow-thinking humans died by the dozens, he quickly transported his primary matrix over the contra-band signal to the gravity room. If anyone survived and the gravity was still one, they would realise that he would be there.

What Jacobs didn't calculate for, however, was the destructive effect that the slipspace jump would have on him. As the wave of radiation passed through the ship he was still sending parts of himself over. At least half of him had gotten corrupted as a result. And he stayed like that four what felt like hours. Real-time timekeeping told him that he had been waiting for survivors for exactly three minutes, Seventeen seconds and then microseconds. Which might as well have been an eternity for a mind like Jacobs. Even though he was a dumb AI, he was still a military special operations unit. That meant his capabilities were many times better than that of many other dumb AI's. So for a mind that could make more than a million calculations and battle strategies per second, that time had actually been an eternity.

But then the motion trackers sensed something and Jacobs was able to make out the faint outlines of a figure clad in MJOLNIR armor form the electronic information. He-could he still call himself a 'he'? Half of him had gotten corrupted or destroyed; wouldn't that make him a collective of fragments…a hive mind?

Very well then.

It willed itself to form coherent thoughts, to send the right codes and information to the speakers so that it might communicate with the…what was its name again? Something that started with the S…just circumfuse it.

"S-s-s-s-s-sie-rrrr-rra?"  
Close enough.  
"It's me Jacobs, status report."

So the cold-blooded jerk wanted his status reports? Why did he even care? Why?  
Wrong. The Sierra was trained to place his mission at the very front of his thoughts. The entity that had once been Jacobs was also created like that. To place the mission at the most significant value.

Was that why it could still think like it had a consciousness? The pieces of Jacobs could still do some good then, if the core programming was just that good.

With a dull, robotic voice the collective spoke: "Primary systems compromised, life forms terminated. Power level at seven percent, deactivation of Shaw-Fujikawa engine five minutes ago-"

"Wait! The slipspace engine did deactivate? Where are we now?"

The robotic voice broke and throughout the speakers, multiple different voices spoke. Eventually one hollow voice broke through.

"Nearest human settlement… system unknown. S-s-s-s-star unknown. T-t-third planet on rrrrrrrrright riggggggg- noncopy."

The last few words were garbled like nonsense, but the Spartan had heard enough. Human life forms? In an unknown system? Perhaps the UNSC colonised this planet some time ago. The only thing that mattered was contacting his superiors and tell them of the compromised Platernus. After that he could continue on with his mission. But in order to get to the planet he would need to get a ship that was rated for atmospheric insertions. While the Platernus had many Pelican dropships and Longsword interceptors alike, it was still in lockdown. So he had to blast the ship open- which could cause a lethal blowout. He knew that the ship would have emergency bulkheads that could seal off a lot of passages, but without shipwide power they would not activate. So even if he could blast his way to freedom he would still leave the ship to be sucked empty by the resulting breach.

Would he risk it? There were bound to be doors or bulkheads already sealed because of the covenant attack. And the crew was already dead…so that wouldn't make much of a difference right? When the UNSC came they could always salvage the bodies.

But still… there had to be a way without desecrating the bodies of the crewmembers. They weren't even supposed to be there, they had in important mission to finish.

Then again, the UNSC presence wouldn't be able to tell. Everyone was dead and he would just be another Spartan on board of an evacuated vessel. This was all irrelevant. His duty decided what he needed to do: get out, find the UNSC, provide Intel and get back in the fight. So would blow the hangar bay open and decompress the vessel, so what? The crew was dead anyway.

He turned from the door and- without a second glance at the speaker where Jacob's disembodied voice had come from- walked away. His goal was simple, the means simpler. In order to survive on the planet he needed some survival gear and- when the humans proved to be hostile or worse, innies- he would need guns. Weapons for all sorts of encounters. So his goal now included a trip to the armoury, again.

As he walked back and forth across the ship, carrying weaponry and explosives to hangar bay 6. He had thought out many plans and strategies involving his next few steps and his mind was clear and sharp. The Pelican dropship- armoured, fuelled and armed to the teeth- would get him planetside. There he would try conventional radios and broadcast beams. If that didn't work he'd worry about it later. Right now he needed off the Platernus and contact the humans down on the planet.

He carried seven MA5C assault rifles and secured them inside duffel-packs, which could be wedged inside certain clams in the ship. He did the same with four M90 Shotguns and seven BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifles- or battle rifles. Those would be the backbone of his armed presence down on that planet. If he should run into heavy resistance he could still annihilate his enemies with guerrilla warfare. Should he run into enemy armour? Then the two Jackhammer rocket launchers should suffice. He took as much ammunition as he could carry- for every single gun. The Pelican was so incredibly loaded with weapons and ammunition by the point he was done that he doubted that it could carry Marines into battle with that load. Had there still been marines alive at that point anyway.

He walked up to the main blast doors that separated the hangar bay and the cold vacuum of space. In order to blast that thing open, he would have to use up all of his C12 explosives. And a couple of grenades of things didn't work out that well. The doors were armoured with up to 60 centimetres of titanium grade A battle armour. It could withstand a lot of punishment. So how would be blast it open? The power was still out, so the doors were nothing but dead weight. He could try to burn a hole using the plasma ordnance he had jammed in the holes left in the Dropship, but that would cause a single hole. Could he then pry the doors open? That would take too long and he would still get sucked out by the vacuum of space. No, he needed something substantially powerful to blast the hell out of the hangar bay door without damaging the ordnance inside: him. He could use the pelican's missile pods to destroy the doors, but they would have to be weakened first.

The Spartan glanced to his left; all the C-12 that he could find in the armoury: a 4x4x4 inch cube of paste. That wouldn't do the job.

Wait a minute! The Hangar bay 6 was outfitted with all the gear he would need. He looked around the compartment and tried to spot the little black boxes that contained what he needed. The crew saw him as a Spartan; the living embodiment of blowing shit up. Following that line of thought, the crew would have guessed that one day he might need enough explosives to blow up a covenant cruiser. A likely thought.

And when he finally found the little box of fun and opened it, he was pleased to find that the crew had seen fit to grant him not one but two damage packs of C-12 explosive paste: enough to blow paste three meters of titanium grade A armour. More than enough to do the job.

He sat the charges on a spread out, hexagon pattern and walked up to the pelican. He was just about to hit the button when he realised that- over the course of the perhaps countless battles to come- he might get injured. It was an insulting thought, but personal pride meant nothing if you were dead. He would need to heal himself and- even though the pelican contained more than enough health kits and his MJOLNIR would supplement him everything he needed- long-term injuries could prove fatal when not treated. The UNSC might take weeks to arrive and some wounds needed no more than a few days to kill- even for a Spartan such as himself.  
So, fully knowing that he would regret the decision, he decided to make one final trip before embarking on the unknown. He would need to get to the armoury and open up the Emergency Experimental Technology Department- the EETD. It was a decision made by the brass higher up, his so-called superior officers back at ONI. As a special operations field agent he would need the best of the best. That was the sole reason that the Platernus contained such an EETD compartment: because of the experimental tech that the UNSC had managed to create (or reverse-engineer) over the course of the war.

While he made the trip to the armoury he opened the instruction Manuel in his HUD. Multitasking proved to be no problem as he navigated his way through the body-littered hallways and debris filled halls. The item he sought was the Prototype Field Deconstruction System Mk III. It was a stripped down version of the machine technicians used when they stripped a Spartan of their armour. Because of its small size he could take it with him on his journey to the planet. But the removal of his armour had to happen in an absolute safe zone- not only because the machine would be stripping him of his armour, but also because of the fact that that he would have to remain stationary for over fifteen minutes. However, the pros outweighed the cons as they said. If he was to remain active for multiple weeks he could not risk getting an injury that might compromise him. Some injuries- rare as they were- could only be treated when the armour was stripped and he was many things but not lucky. He was sure to crash with the pelican or something and that would cause internal damage.

He did not want to remind himself that the machine would also be broken during the crash- thereby rendered useless.

The Spartan had secured every single piece of equipment he would need- including the hated stripping machine- he walked through the cargo way and made his way to the cockpit. There he strapped himself in the chair and brought up the Pelican's display in his HUD. A stroke of luck, the bird was still online. He should have checked that first but, he had things to do,

He brought up the detonator and pressed the button. As quick as his body would allow him to, he activated the pelican's thrusters and rear jets.

The explosion rattled his teeth and the Pelican trembled. A giant hole had appeared in the heavy doors and even as he moved his hands back and forth trying activate the Pelican, air was ventilated out of the room. It was as if heavy tornado was pulling at the ship, crates and boxes were mercilessly sucked out of the hangar and the pelican was slowly being pulled out too. But that didn't really matter, as soon as the engines activated he could steer the bird towards the planet. The dropship cleared its hold and shot past the ragged hole into cold vacuum. He was actually a bit pleased. He had successfully cleared the destroyer and escaped its cold hold. He would reunite with the surface population of humans and link up with the UNSC. Then he would continue fighting the war against the Covenant, one mission at a time.

A shadow loomed over his ship as he sailed underneath the hull of the Platernus, which still looked formidable despite its apparent decommissioning. Too soon he hit the planet's gravity well, getting caught in its gyrating mass.

The Pelican dropship descended down the atmosphere, its nose caught in burning flames as the friction between the two rose to unbearable intensity. It was a good thing that he had reinforced the hull with starship grade armor plating. Even though the plating was no thicker than 2 inches it still gave the Pelican the touch it needed. The bird was rated for atmospheric insertion, but there were still some catastrophic malfunctions that could happen to this type of dropship. Ones that could prove fatal to the Spartan's effort to get planet side in one piece, at least.

The dark and starry night that was space had disappeared the moment he had hit the planet's atmosphere and he was aware of the fact that the ´Human presence´ down there might see his descending ship as a threat. The cockpit's view was dominated by blazing heat so not even the most skilled pilot could navigate so high on view alone. Not that there was much to see out there anyway. The attitude counter one of the screens showed him that he had still a dozen kilometers to go.

He remembered a mission that he had completed with the crew of the Platernus, several weeks back. It had been the second one that they undertook together and he still busy getting accustomed to having living beings around him that didn't needed to get shot. At least not because of orders.

**Flashback**

They had received confirmation of insurrectionist presence on a UNSC outpost that had gone dark a few days before. With no Intel in the situation, the Spartan had been forced to go in blind. It was that, or wait for the crewmembers to get some readings on the planet. There simply wasn't time for them to stick around longer, especially not when they had received word of a surface-to-space missile launcher a day later.

So when he went down to the shuttle bay to grab a pelican dropship, he was stopped by a young lieutenant. She couldn't have been older than her late twenties, but he had seen the determination burning in her eyes that only the most die-hard specialized personnel possessed.

And he had been right. She was the dropship's pilot- the bird that he was about to take down the planet with the large missile launcher aimed at space on it- and she was not very happy about his plans. Even though she was technically his superior, he had Section seven from ONI backing him up. They sent him on his missions and he completed them whatever the cost. When on the battlefield fighting the covenant he obeyed orders from his superiors. When on a specific mission however, no one could tell him what to do. And this was such a case.

"Are you insane?" The woman had asked him. "You are planning to take that bird down there with that giant cannon ready to fire? You'll be blown out of the sky before you could even begin your descend!"

He didn't know how to react to Marines during his missions. Technically he had no superior officers, so he was free to do whatever he deemed necessary. But that didn't mean he had no rank, he was still military personnel and she had the rank- and probably experience- to tell him what was the smart thing to do.

He missed the days when it was simply obey your officer, help your fellow soldiers and neutralize hostiles. That was the way understood and liked, without having complicated social matters interfering.

"My orders are to get down there and investigate the Insurrectionist presence."

That should have been enough for her to back off, but she hadn't. Instead, she walked past him to the Pelican and stepped inside.

"Well Spartan, they don't know were here yet. But as soon as we launch from the ship they will find out and they will try to blow our asses out of the sky."

'She isn't trying to protect the pelican', he thought. So what was she doing? He needed that ship and she wouldn't get in her way. If he had to, he'd pull rank on her.

But before he could do anything she spoke again. "You'll need an experienced pilot flying that ship sir and I'm the best this tub has got to offer."

She wanted to be his pilot? Didn't she know that, as a Spartan, he received extensive training in the handling of any and all UNSC equipment including Pelican dropships?

Of course she didn't, no one knew a thing about the Spartans. ONI had kept his presence a well-kept secret to anyone that didn't have to work with him. All the soldiers on the field saw him as a Spartan and they were usually too busy to check him on the battlenet

But he wasn't a pilot exclusively, he was a Spartan. A ground-pounder, so to say. He might need her to get him on that planet. Besides, if he went alone then he would have to find a place to land that ship. When he had a pilot, he could use the more… tactical way of insertion. Very well.

So with someone piloting the Pelican he had descended down the Insurrectionist planet. Their missile launcher had tried to shoot them out of the sky many times, but the lieutenant had proved capable enough to evade it time after time. The moment he had jumped out of the dropship and got to work, fate decided that a safe landing wasn't compensating enough. His comm had jumped to life and Captain Spenser's voice radioed through his helmet.

"The covenant are here! Get some information and then get the hell out of there! We'll buy you some time."

A minute later the sky had been swarming with covenant Banshees and Spirit dropships.

**Flashback end**

The edges of his mouth curved upwards as he allowed a sly smile to come over his features. He had rampaged through the base, killing rebel and covenant soldiers alike until he had found the HQ. There he had identified several rebels trying to fight off two hunters. One of them wore the insignia that signaled him as a Major. So the Spartan had decided to snatch the man in the middle of the combat, leaving the others to fend off the covenant. After that, he had rendezvoused with the lieutenant and the three of them- Spartan, pilot and rebel- had made it back to the Platernus. Mission accomplished and valuable Intel received. That had been the very first time he had actively cooperated with the crewmembers onboard the ship, even though it was only one.

Then he frowned. She was most likely dead now, along with everyone else onboard the Platernus. He had worked with them for a total of four months- he had even gotten to know several other people. Their deaths…were unfortunate. They had been good people…that had gotten him to his destinations save and sound.

He was feeling negative about their deaths, as he felt about every human death. But normally the death count from one covenant attack after another meant nothing to him but statistics. Just so many more humans killed by the covenant.

But was he feeling bad about the Platernus' crew because of their strategic value? Or because of some other, yet unknown reason? He couldn't tell. He had been pushing his emotions away for so long- eradicating every feeling that could negatively affect his missions- that he didn't even recognize what he felt anymore.

He was musing too much. He shouldn't be, he still had a mission to accomplish. He needed to return to the fight, to be useful. He was wasting time that could be better spent. The people down there would better have a working communications centre.

Eventually the intense flames that covered the cockpit disappeared and he was able to make out some features of the landscape below. There were multiple towns and villages scattered across the place and from what he could see there were lights. So these people had electricity- that meant he could find a way to get home. But he didn't want to scare them to death when he suddenly came down the sky with his ship, neither did he want to risk his ship and supplies when they proved to be hostile. So he would park his ship far away from civilization and slowly make his way to the community's. There was no doubt that some people might have seen him, but if he hid his dropship where only he could find it then it would be relatively safe.

The Pelican was rapidly descending and he could see the ground getting closer and closer. There wasn't any form of armed response, but he still didn't risk it. He aimed for a large open forest at the foot of a very large mountainside. He would climb that mountain and head for the nearest outpost.

He was losing attitude fast.

600 meters.

500 meters. 200 meters.

At the last moment he hit some other buttons and activated the reverse thrusters, bringing the ship to a jarring halt roughly ten meters above the ground. His motion sensor- which still didn't work for some weird reason- flashed to life for two seconds, showing many dozens of neutral targets moving across the ground.

Animal wildlife?

Human travelers?

Maybe both.

He searched for a clearing and was soon rewarded with an excellent point, just underneath a shallow rock outcropping on the mountain and above the forest, providing him with an excellent vantage point.

He carefully steered the Dropship towards the rock. When his ship was ten meters away from the landing site, he turned the ship around. He should be able to make a quick getaway if things went south and he couldn't do that with a ship that faced a wall.

He felt the soft vibrations as the waves from the engines bounced off of the wall and hit the hull again; a sign that he was nearing his parking spot. Slowly reducing power he turned off the reverse thrusters and was rewarded with a soft 'THUD' as the pelican hit the ground.

As smooth a landing as any, he supposed.

When he exited the Pelican he noticed that the forest was teeming with activity. Multiple swarms of birds exited the trees and foreign sounds and cries of alien animals assaulted his ears.

What is this place? He mused to himself. He grabbed an assault rifle and a battle rifle and mounted them on his back. Upgrades to his MJOLNIR amour made it possible for up to two large weapons to be strategically mounted on certain places on his back. He grabbed a side-arm from the cockpit and frowned, noticing that he didn't take any ammo for a pistol. He would have to improvise should he burn through all his ammo- something that would ask for a less subtle response should it happen.

His helmet's audio systems enhanced his hearing by many times; he could hear every bird screaming as they left the trees and flew away. He heard the busy chattering of animals living their lives and even some cries of distress, probably as some animal got attacked by another.

The wildlife couldn't harm him, but all of these sounds were unknown to him and there might be some hostile elements playing these sounds as audio tracks, trying to lure him closer. The primary color of his armor wasn't exactly subtle. He would have to cover himself in dirt and leaves as he traveled, lest his white tint give him away. He could polarize his visor to some degree so he needn't worry about that.

As the heavily armored figure climbed down the mountain side with ease, some of the birds flying overhead cried again. One of them had to be at least five times bigger than the others and was cruising ahead of them. As the leader of the flock descended, so did the rest of them. They hit the tree line and started screaming like mad, the big one at the very front. Had someone been observing them they might have realized that the birds were busy attacking a ground target. It was still nothing new; these things were nothing new

The yellow flash of lightning that appeared from the ground and struck the lead avian however, was new.

The bird was scorched from the intense blast and retreated. Smoke, feathers and several other birds trailing behind it.

"_ONI- the Office of Naval Intelligence. The greatest collection of devious bastards and evil SOB's that the UNSC had to offer. Officially the department for intelligence, research and propaganda, ONI has developed to be far more…active in the war effort. They were the spionage and counter-spionage department, cyberwarfare developers and special operations centre at the same time. It is them who are responsible for our black operations missions, or more specifically it is Section Seven of ONI that unleashes Two-Sierra zero-one-one upon the covenant and rebels alike. They are not to be trusted."_

"_Everyone that is in the right set of mind knows that ONI shouldn't be trusted, sir."_

_ - Captain Ryan Spenser to Crewmember Adams, before the battle of Aegis III_

**I have been working hard lately and I hope that I got some stuff right. Next chapter should be up within the week, were our Spartan gets introduced to a world the likes have never seen before!**

**That being said, there aren't many characters that I can use besides the default Kanto characters. So if any of you faithful readers would be so kind as to create one for me? I would be very happy and give you cookies and mention your character in the intro as the character appears and give you cookies.**

**Oh yes, I do not own Halo or pokemon or any products associated with the two. I do own any self created plot contend and created characters.**

**R&R!**


	3. An unexpected encounter

**This is Masterwil with Chapter three of Broken demons and angels. I am desperate for reviews, so even if you are Anonymous just tell me how amazing I am or how much I suck. Any kind of actual feedback will do, I just need to know whether my writing style is good or bad.**

**Special thanks to **Lay Down Hunter **as my first reviewer! Thank you :)**

**Then I want to say thanks to the people that liked/followed. Your support is noted: 3**

**That being said, I still need some side characters or OC's so could you all please make up some good characters that could get the story rolling even harder?**

***Don't blame me for updating too frequently; I have a lot of spare time for writing with the long trip to the campus. **

**That was all I had to say for the moment, let us be off! *Walks away embarrassed.**

"Speech" –human speech

"**Speech"** – Pokémon speech

_`Speech`_- Pokémon speech to humans

"_After the victory we had at Sigma Octanus IV, Mankind got a much desired piece of emotion they hadn't thought possible this late in the war: hope. Hope that heroes, such as yourself Captain Keyes, will rise up and protect them. To guide them through these hard times and give them the motivation needed to defeat the covenant. Would you deny them that?"_

"_No sir, but the battle at Sigma Octanus IV and its resulting victory' came at a high price. I just wanted to let them know that sir._

- Conversation between Vice Admiral Stanforth and Captain Jacob Keyes, after the battle of Sigma Octanus IV on July 18, 2552

The damn forest was teeming with life, movements and sounds were like water dropping from a crane; without end and annoying when things had to be silent. Most people that waged war and fought battles in forests hated the noises, simply because every single sound could be a potential threat.

The Spartan didn't mind the noises at all, though. He had stalked his enemies many times though many different environments. He knew how to hide himself, how to mask his sounds and movements. The cries of his environment were merely distractions to the unfocused and undisciplined.

Although he was normally the master stalker everywhere he went, he was unsure of his position as hunter in this place. He didn't know what the alien fauna and flora was capable of. Even though he was sure that his armor and shielding could protect him from almost any threat save covenant plasma, he was still cautious of everything that looked odd.

"Trusting in your equipment to keep you save is one of the easier ways of dying a quick death. Machines fail and humans don't," one of his instructors had told him when he was young. One of the many lessons that he had to keep in mind when fighting. Even in this strange environment, one mistake or moment of overconfidence could well cost him his head.

So when he heard strange growling and yapping, he instantly blended away in his surroundings, thinking that maybe the covenant already had a foothold on this planet and that he had run into a pack of brutes.

He had run into the ugly beasts on numerous encounters. They were big, more than eight-and-a-half feet tall. Their muscles were as prominent as their ugly faces. The UNSC had not encountered the brutes in a lot of fights, but the Spartan had been send on numerous high-reward missions and had fought the Brutes as bodyguards, assassins, foot soldiers and as high priority targets. They were no easy opponents, as their strength surpassed that of both Elites and Spartans alike.

So when he thought that he had encountered them on a world were a human population was supposed to reside he grew apprehensive. Was Jacobs' data corrupted as badly as he was? Or had the covenant simply found this planet?

He hadn't seen any big ships in orbit, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

He would have to terminate the dumb apes. Not a very attractive thought, but it was necessary to do so anyway. He would not have any covenant on this planet without any nice holes in them, oh no.

He put his assault rifle away and pulled out his shotgun. Normally he would have tried to target the brutes from a distance- preferably something around a mile or so. But seeing as he did not take a battle rifle with him and the thick forest area wouldn't allow long ranged combat anyway. He would creep closer to the brutes and- when he was right on top of them- ambush them with a few quick shotgun shells.

He rose from his near-crouch a bit and proceeded to travel further into the jungle, taking a wide bead as to flank the covenant patrol.

The growling and barking intensified, but it was way too soon. He hadn't crossed that much distance yet and the brutes should have moved farther away. They couldn't be laying a trap for him, because they were making sounds. So what were they doing? Were they even brutes, or was it some native animal that was making those noises?

And then he heard another noise, soft and faint. It almost He hadn't heard it earlier because of the background noises. He redoubled his speed, not caring whether he made the bushes or trees move when he rushed past them. After a minute of running and sneaking through the thick forest, the foliage became less compact and more spread out. The trees became larger and wider- but also scattered across the area. In a small open area he soon spotted the culprits.

What looked like two small, grey dogs with black faces were jumping around the area, clearly attacking something else. He couldn't see what it was and he didn't care. He didn't come here to play ranger and protect weird alien animals. He had a mission to complete, a duty to fulfil.

And then he saw what was going on and he stopped in his tracks. The two dogs were attacking a creature unlike the Spartan had ever seen before. It was bipedal, as white as his armour was and stood smaller than the two canines that attacked it- not even half a meter tall. Its body looked a bit like a white dress; the legs were obscured and thus hard to make out. The head could only be described as a green bowl cut hat obscured its face. It might have passed as an infant wearing a white bodysuit from a distance. But the weird, flat and clearly red horn on both the front and back of its head gave it away as nonhuman.

The super-soldier needed to know what the local fauna behaved like. There might be a tactical advantage hidden away there and he would grasp any kind of Intel he could.

He stopped at the edge of the clearing, roughly thirty feet away from the fight. If he analyzed the way the local fauna moved and behaved then he might be able to predict their movements and possibly avoid any more of them. He didn't want to get too involved in the fight and he was content to simply stand by and watch, but then he felt something. It was a faint tinkling at the base of his skull, a weird sensation that he couldn't quite place. He reviewed situation before him again and thought about his options. The white animal looked like a human in a weird, twisted way.

No matter what he did, in the end his duty was to protect mankind. He was a protector, a figure that people normally liked and looked up at.

He could simply step into the clearing and chase the two dogs away- he would save the little creature and he wouldn't have even diverted from his route. Just walk straight past them and let them run away.

He sighed and rose from his half crouch. The instant he moved, the two grey dogs turned around and began sniffing the air. Their eyes grew big and their hair stood upright. Both of the predators turned and fled in the opposite direction of the Spartan with their tails between their hind legs.

He wasn't an anthropologist but he did know that canines were usually very scared when their tail fell between their legs. He couldn't blame them for it. He probably smelled like the seven gates of hell to those sensitive noses.

The little white creature lay on the ground, panting and shaking. It had to be safe now, so he could simply walk past it. He couldn't help looking down at its head as he walked by and as he did the tingling at the back of his head intensified. The white animal gazed up at his visor and gave a loud squeal. It tried to shuffle backwards, but it must have been too injured to move effectively.

For some reason the Spartan stopped. The weird tingling in the back of his skull was still present, but less intense now. Nevertheless he still felt a weird urge to defend this little creature- which was too injured to defend itself when it was attacked again. If he left it now it would surely die.

He shook his head. Since when had he cared about wildlife? He had been fighting to protect humans for so long now that it hardly seemed possible to fight for anything else. But still, if he didn't hurry up and reunite with the UNSC to continue fighting and humanity would become extinct, then all animal life would die too. And while he knew that animals couldn't contribute to war- so did the majority of the people he strove to protect.

That thought always raised the conundrum in his head of why he fought. Why did he need to protect mankind?

Because it was his duty.

And why was it his duty?

He was trained to do this. And he was trained because he was needed; because people would die if he didn't act.

That was the little circle that he had thought up for himself some time ago. It was the first time that someone he knew had actually died when near him. The mere thought of questioning your own motives disgusted him. Duty drove him and he acted by it. Never would he question his duty or abandon his mission.

So the moral puzzle pieces never stuck in his head longer than a second- which was still an unusually long time to ponder for a Spartan.

And now, as he was facing the little creature, he felt the strange urge to keep protecting it. He could simply pick it up and take it with him until he reached village. It wouldn't weigh him or slow him down at all and he could continue marching onwards to civilisation.

Right?

The little creature was still shaking after its encounter, even when they had been walking for at least fifteen minutes now. Because of its small size and its relatively weak body structure, it would have fallen behind instantly if it was to walk with him. So- seeing as the Spartan had already decided to take it with him- it wouldn't do if it fell behind now.

So he decided to carry it. He had reached out and the white thing had instantly covered up its head with its arms and began shaking. It wasn't a surprise that it didn't trust the Spartan but at the very least it could try to act normally?

Ignoring the display of fear he had simply reached out and plucked the animal from the ground.

And now the small thing was clinging to his right shoulder plate as if its life depended on it. Funny how privy it was to changing its mind. Perhaps it had realized that the Super-soldier meant it no harm?

Or was it simply scared for falling off? It mattered little. The weird sensation that he had felt earlier hadn't disappeared. He still felt a weird tingling at the base of his skill- almost next to his Neural implant. Did it even happen because of the slipspace engine? Or was it something else that he felt? And why had he felt compelled to take the animal with him at all? It would have been simple enough for him to simply leave it behind and move on. He should have done so. Hell, he had left useful supplies and even weapons behind in the past to avoid having something that slowed him down. So why would he waste his time – and speed- to take some silly native fauna with him?

The creature still hadn't budged and it squealed with fear when the Spartan tried to touch it with his index finger. If it feared him so much then why didn't it leave? Find something else to cling to?

But he couldn't bring himself to actually pry the little thing from his shoulder to leave it behind, so instead he started talking to it. Rhetorically at least, because who in his right mind would talk to animals? Especially when said person had an important duty to fulfill and a war to fight ASAP?

"If you don't want to be with me then why are you still here?" He asked out loud. His voice sounded heavy and grave. A bit like gravel, with a hard tone peeking around the edge. He didn't like talking much and his voice needed a lot of training. Every time he had to issue a series of orders or explain a strategy his throat ached and his voice sounded ever more…off. Even so the animal didn't respond overly negative to the new noise around it. It lifted its head and looked at him, as if it was wondering what the meaning was of the weird grinding noises that came from its ride.

Funny, that's the second time that it had displayed an above-average level of intelligence. Maybe these animals were akin to the primates and dolphins back on earth; the highest level of intelligence besides humans. It that was the case then this creature was even more like humans than primates were- seeing as it displayed open emotions and could difference between friend and foe. To a limited degree at least.

"_**Ralts**_?" It said with a sweet voice that was mildly disturbed by the creatures fear.

The frowned slightly. That voice left a weird impression on him; it pressed on his thoughts and he focused them even more on the creature. This world seemed truly alien.

"Yes I'm talking to you," he responded. His throat began to strain in protest a little. But the 'animal' that was clinging on to his armor inspired an odd feeling in him; the feeling that it realized that its carrier was trying to communicate. Different species never knew that they were communicating as far as the Spartan was aware. At least not the less intelligent ones. Perhaps this thing was an individual of a species that possessed intelligence equal to human beings? Could they even be sentient, like the AI's were?

"Do you have a name?"

The creature didn't answer, but it still looked at him weird and the Spartan could have sworn that the weird tingling in his neck had just moved a little bit.

There was one more way to prove his theory that the being on his shoulder was sentient. He would have to try and communicate on a primal level; to start gesturing and flailing with his arms.

The prospect wasn't too enticing, but he needed Intel and he could both travel to the nearest town and learn about this world.

He cautiously looked around him to see if there were any living beings beside them in the vicinity. There weren't.

Great.

The most basic way of communicating with another sentient being was to exchange names. You would have to point at yourself and exclaim your name. Then- if you were lucky- the other creature would point at itself in an imitation of the gesture and repeat you. That or it would say its own name.

But that only worked with foreigners. And alien POW's of course. So even if the little white thing was intelligent enough to understand the concept of communication by sounds, would it understand the concept of a name? Or would it simply get scared to death by the sudden new noises?

If his instructors could see him now they would have wet their pants laughing. But he had to try something didn't he? He still had the weird impression that he should keep the creature with him- to keep it safe. He didn't want to get attached to anything, but his mind and his body wanted two different things.

He pointed his other arm at his chest and said:

"Math."

He then pointed at the creature's chest and waited for a response. It didn't come. Instead it continued watching him with uncanny attention. Whether it didn't want to communicate with him or just couldn't wasn't clear and he had no way of telling.

Soon the sun set and the last remaining light slowly faded away, leaving the forest in darkness. The animal on his shoulder felt increasingly tense as it saw the sun set. Eventually it reached up over the Spartan's shoulder and gazed at the place where his visor was supposed to be.

"_**Ralts**_?" It said. Math had heard that little sound before and he still didn't know what it meant. His enhanced vision allowed him to see his surroundings with almost night-vision levels of accuracy. He wouldn't anything to ambush them. But even though he felt secure, he could not help but wonder what the little white individual that he carried with him had to say about the situation.

"Fear of the dark?" He asked it. He waited for a response of any kind, but it never came. Curious. He glanced down to see if everything was alright. Perhaps it had gotten too scared to move or speak? In that case he had to comfort it a little bit. Just a little, not too much.

He almost stopped dead in his tracks when he realized just what was wrong with it and tilted his head a little bit in surprise.

It was sleeping. Curled up in his armpit and with its arms wrapped around itself. It would seem that this little animal's feelings fluctuated even more than those of a covenant hunter. He had seen of one those tear its enemies apart and then- when it thought it was save and alone with is bond brother- stop and grumble in what had to be a form of poesy. And after that, when the Spartan had come by and blew its bond brother apart, the hunter had flown in an uncontrollable rage.

Then again, maybe this one was a night creature. Simply waiting for the sun to set and then scrambling up and about. When he was young he had learned that some animals liked to wait until it was dark to hunt their prey. It was a fine strategy- one that seemed to work particularly well on covenant. Those cocky bastards almost never changed their strategy and they never seemed to try and think like their enemies. That had cost them severely every single time that he had engaged them during dusk, night and dawn.

He marched onwards like that for another hour when a different thought crept into his mind.

"Maybe the animal was sick? Maybe it had been so severely wounded that it had run a fever, or gotten an infection of some sort? He didn't know anything about this world and its pathogens.

He then decided that he needed to get to a civilized area and fast. He hadn't even considered the fact that his little companion had been wounded in the battle. That should have been his first thought.

He increased the tempo of his feet as he broke into a run. He darted across the forest like a white ghost, the ground shaking with quakes as his heavy boots hit the ground time and time again- yet he made no more noise than a bird flying across the area would have made. He dodged many trees and rocks and simply busted through the bushes lying in his path. At the same time he covered the white animal with his other arm to prevent projectiles from hitting it and then quickly programmed a Navigational Marker in his HUD to where he had last seen the lights of a village. His armor calculated his speed and the distance to his target and came up with an ETA of approximately three minutes.

Acceptable.

While he ran he wondered about the strange creature that he had found. How he had felt compelled to take it with him and care for it. Was it some strange effect that a strange kind of radiation was having on him? Could it be the aftereffects of the slipspace engine discharging with him so close; that he was misinterpreting his own body?

Possible.

In the distance he could see the faint outlines of buildings and lights; he had reached his destination. By that time it was completely dark, leaving no other sources of light as explanation. It had to be the village.

He wasn't completely sure on how to proceed now; the human population on this planet could either be rebels or simply civilians. If he simply knocked on the door and there were insurrectionists… the resulting firefight would most likely result in the death of his little white passenger. That wasn't acceptable. He couldn't fight with it anywhere near him and neither was he going to waste time trying to use fancy new tactics when he could be much more effective on his own. There were lines to cross here. No fighting with animal wildlife clinging to your shoulder and no wasting time because of animal wildlife.

But… if he put it somewhere safe and then returned for it after he had cleared the area then… he would still have to fight his way to a communication device- most likely a large radar dish several miles away. And he didn't want to both protect a wild animal he found while at the same time engaging a more numerous force.

In a split-second before deciding he went over the tactical options: the number of houses, their sizes and capacities for people. Any vantage points and possible places for ambushes. Then he came up with a battle-plan and position for the little creature.

Quietly he strode to the nearest tree and jumped at the nearest branch that was more than 10 inches thick. He had no delusions that the meager wood could support half a ton of armor and warrior, but if the timed it right- his hand brushed against the branch and he quickly pushed himself away. The branch bent and splintered like a match but he had achieved what he wanted. He brought his leg up and pushed himself off- more gently this time, without letting his full weight hit the branch. It still came apart like the other one, but by that time the Spartan was already two meters up in the air. He grasped the thickest branch he could reach and- before it could break underneath his weight- scooped the sleeping animal from his shoulder and placed it on the branch, as close to the center as possible. It didn't wake up nor had it any reason to. The Spartan's movements had been so fluid and graceful that it couldn't have possibly felt a change in its environment.

His initial jump had brought him nearly seven feet in the air and the next ones had enabled him to reach a height of at least fifteen feet. It would be safe there.

When the fighting had passed and he had cleared the village he would find a safe and dry spot in one of the houses for the animal and then it would have to fend for itself. Until then, the safe height of the tree would protect it from any wildlife.

Or at least from any nonclimbing wildlife.

He pushed these thoughts and all other thoughts out of his mind without effort and moved to the village. He saw the large building to the right, the 'Lab'. Making no sounds whatsoever he moved to the nearest window and peeked in- for no more than half a second. HE had spotted a bed with someone sleeping on it and some weird machinery. Some other beds were scattered across its inside and two more people slept on those.

A laboratory with only three people inside? Too easy.

He pulled out his combat knife and slid it between the door and the lock. Moving downwards, he determined where the lock would precisely be and how the mechanism worked. He then pulled his knife back out and used his finger to tear out the outer half of the lock.

He was lucky or the rebels hadn't felt any need to protect themselves; the lock was so simple that any burglar could have picked it let alone a Spartan.

He opened the door as quietly as he could and moved inside, his knife at the ready and his weapons safely tucked away on his back. This operation required stealth and it wouldn't do him any good if he alerted every village in the radius of three miles with his gunshots.

As quiet as an owl in midflight he searched the building. It had only one floor and two big rooms, with a weird machine at the end of it. There didn't seem to be any kind of ordnance or weapon inside this lab but that was only to be expected. IT was a place for research and learning and- if the Spartan guessed right- weird experiments.

After he had cleared the building and determined that it posed him no threat, he moved on to the rest of the village. Over the course of an hour he broke into every building and searched for any signs that it contained rebels.

He found none. Which was weird.

There were only two logical conclusions: either these weren't rebels or they were a simple research outpost without combat capabilities, not expecting to be flanked from the dense forest. A huge mistake and highly unlikely but still, perhaps this was splinter group without proper command.

But the whole idea that these people were rebels was getting more and more unlikely. They didn't even carry identification tags for their own people and they possessed literary no military ordnance. These people were noncombatants. Not a threat to him or the little animal. Perhaps they could help him in his search and perhaps they could find a proper place for the white animal that he had taken from the forest.

But it was dark now and he had no idea when it would become light again. IT had been light when he had crashed, but that was around two hours ago. The sun had been close to setting, but maybe the day and night cycles differed from each other.

IF only it had been possible to take the AI from the Platernus with him. It would have most likely known.

The Spartan kept pondering about his current situation while he sneaked back to the edge of the forest where he had hidden the creature. It was still up in its tree, but it looked awake now.

And no surprise, it was scared again.

"Don't worry about it, I'm on it." He growled and stopped at the base of the tree.

"Just scouting ahead."

It was looking down at him from its branch and still quivering. Perhaps it was cold? OR hungry? Thirsty? Maybe a bit of everything? It didn't matter much, he guessed. Soon it would be safe and sound, in the village where the people most likely knew how to take care of it.

The Spartan quietly and carefully climbed the tree. He was balancing 500 kilograms on top of a bit of wood and he didn't trust it very much. The white animal was waiting for him up there, clearly not entertained by its current situation. It was shaking, that much was obvious, but it for some reason it didn't look very scared. More apprehensive, as if something was going to happen to it that it couldn't avert.

The Spartan grew a bit uneasy and checked his motion tracker again. It was still offline.

Animals often possessed the uncanny capabilities of predicting when or where danger was going to strike and he was not so stupid as to ignore the age-old instincts of nature. He had more often than not been warned by animals suddenly shifting in moods or simply moving to another area just because they sensed something- which would later proof to be a covenant patrol on the ground or in the air.

Like the time on Aegis III before that went sour. He had landed in the jungle, because the covenant had captured the major cities in the surrounding areas. Any closer was too dangerous for the lieutenant- his pilot- to land. So he had to cross a mile of compact jungle to cross before he could get to the first city on his schedule. He had taken notice of the animal presence in the area and was soon rewarded by his caution when a group of birds had suddenly taken off- several dozen meters in front of him. His motion tracker was useless in the thick jungle because everything moved. Were it not for his attention to the animal movements in the area, he would not have noticed the patrol of half a dozen grunts and three elites searching the area.

So when the little white creature grew apprehensive, so did he.

"What's wrong?" he quietly asked it. Of course he got no response, but he had hoped that the animal would point out where it thought danger was coming from.

He gestured to the dark forest in a questioning way.

"What do you see?" he said.

"_Ralts_!" It said and then crawled closer to the Spartan; no easy task because of the animal's anatomy. That was the third time that he had heard that sound and he still didn't know what it meant; what kind of indication it was.

So when the frightened thing was close enough to the Spartan crouching there to touch him and it simply looked up at him, he began to doubt that the animal had felt danger in the vicinity. Perhaps it was still scared from its encounter with the dogs and was it simply seeking protection.

Or it though that the super-soldier could protect it from the coming danger. It was never simple.

His armor would protect him from every animal that could possibly reach that high up in the tree, but the same did not go for his companion. So he reached down and gently picked up the animal. If it had any idea of the crushing power that was his gauntlet, it didn't show. For some reason it seemed happy to be touched, even if it was by cold unyielding armor- for he had deactivated his energy shield enough that he could actually touch it. He slowly lowered himself so that he could sit with his back to the trunk of the tree. If he was to spend the night waiting, he could just as easily grab some sleep. The last time he slept had been several weeks ago; he had spent the majority of his time either fighting or in cryo-chamber. While the latter was still some form of rest, it had hardly been the kind of rest he needed.

And he kept having weird dreams.

At any rate, He could keep scouting ahead to see if there was any indication of hostile activity but that meant delaying his journey. Or he could wait until the sun had come up to see if the village was indeed nonhostile. For now that last option seemed wiser. He would ask the people where to go and then dump the animal that had been traveling with him in one of the houses.  
After he had determined whether it would be safe or not, of course.

The human that she had been traveling with was very weird. When the snapping dogs had come after her and she couldn't get away in safety, she thought that she would die for sure. But then she felt the faint presence of…something. It didn't feel like the other humans that she had encountered in her brief life.

Not that she could describe how they felt anyway; she had been too young and the humans had been too far away for her to probably sense them. The only reason why she knew of humans because he parents had told her about them- shortly before they both disappeared. She did not know where they had gone, but she wanted them back! Traveling for some time she tried to find them, but whenever found them. And then one fateful day she had found herself cornered but the dark creatures, trying to hurt her.

It was then that she sensed the haunting-half presence of a human. But that human was impossible, it couldn't be here. It felt too distant for her to sense and yet there it stood. The mere scent of the creature had chased the dogs away. While her smell wasn't as sophisticated as the dark creatures' she had an uncanny ability to feel the emotions and feelings around her. And what she felt had terrified her. The 'human' that had come to her aid felt devoid of every emotion. It was driven by the base need to do and she did not know what is that it wanted to do.

Perhaps it was broken? Every creature in existence had feelings; they all hated, loved and cared. The fact that she did not feel anything from it scared her so much that she could barely move.

Which could have also been because of her fatigue and many small wounds wrought by the dogs.

And the human had walked over to her… and it looked down at. Its face was like a mirror, reflecting everything that it hit yet seeing all. It was then that she thought that it was no human at all. Its very presence felt bad, it hurt her to even think about it. Its appearance was so unsettling for her, so very unnatural that she instantly knew that his not a human.

It had to be a Demon.

But a demon would have hurt her, it would have taken her away and never allow her to see the sunlight again. And while it did take her away- even though she had fought and struggled to stay there, a feat of which she was proud- it never hurt her. It even allowed her to sit on him as he walked for both of them. The demon that didn't want to hurt her! What a story that would make. She could still not feel its emotions, but the longer she stayed with him the better she was able to understand his presence. She knew it had to be a 'him' because at some point it had tried to communicate with her

It had asked her whether she wanted to be…there? What it meant was beyond her, but the underlying voice had been undoubtedly male. Did demons even have a difference between male and female? Or were they all male?

She was too tired to ponder much and her wounds throbbed, clouding her mind. She simply replied that she didn't understand. There wasn't much interaction after that. The demon had talked to her some more and once she had respond in kind to a question that she didn't understand.

'Math'? What was a 'Math'?

She had the feeling that it was trying to say something to her but she was too tired to respond. Soon she fell asleep on top if the Demon's shoulder. While her mind rested her sub consciousness continued to wonder about her companion's intentions and- more importantly- his feelings and emotions.

Every single member of her species was able to feel the emotions and intentions of nearby creatures and humans. So why didn't she feel what her protector was feeling? What did he want of her?

Eventually she started to grasp some of his underlying feelings and intentions. It was seeking something, something that was so important to him that he would literally stop at nothing to get it. He was also planning…planning something concerning a place somewhere. And then…he would…leave her there?

…what? That couldn't be true! Why would he leave her behind just when he had saved her, just as she was beginning to adept to his presence! She didn't understand it. But she was mad. Mad at the stupid demon-human for wanting to leave her behind.

And with an angry gasp she woke.

The gold-faced demon was gone, he had left her behind! Why would he do that? Did he not save her? Had he thought that she was safe now? Well she wasn't safe; she was alone, cold, tired, wounded hungry and very, very upset!

After she had been shivering there for what felt like hours, the demon returned. He had actually returned to her! Why would he move away if he would return? It didn't make any kind of sense! She gazed at the place where someone's face usually rested- and realized that there was a sudden height difference. How weird. Had the demon made himself smaller? Had she suddenly grown? Maybe he was standing in a hole, had he somehow trapped himself.

It took her brain a few seconds to register the fact that everything else was still in proportion. She also felt her underside resting on a surface that felt…different from usual.

She was higher in the air…she was sitting in a tree!

But how? Had she accidently teleported there in her dreams, is that why the demon was gone? Because he had been searching for her? That seemed highly unlikely. She had never done so on purpose so why would she randomly teleport as she slept? It didn't make sense. Little did since her parents disappeared.

"Don't worry about it, I'm on it."

What? What was he on? Why did he insist on using that weird vocal language that she didn't understand? The demon-human climbed up the tree, which he did quite gracefully for something so big... and heavy no doubt. Ah, there it was again! That weird sensation that she had managed to make out of him- the feeling that he would leave her behind! She hadn't been wrong before. No doubt about it now; he had placed her in the tree to get rid of her!

…

No, something was wrong with that line of thought. It didn't remove her uneasiness however, it only increased it. She didn't want to be alone she wanted to be with her parents! Her father and mother those were the creatures that she wanted around her!

Suddenly the demon seemed to tense- in a manner of speaking of course. His appearance did not change but his thoughts did. They changed from passive wondering to active alert. What was it? What had he seen?

"What's wrong?" The demon asked her. Silly thing, he was wrong! He was thinking about leaving her and now he was leaking alert! How was she alright when she was about to be alone, in the presence of only the danger that her ex-companion had sensed!

He moved his arm to the scary darkness of the forest filled with monsters and said something. She didn't get what it was and she didn't care.

"_Ralts!"_ She yelled. **How could you leave me! I don't want to be alone!**

She wouldn't allow it to leave. It hadn't done anything to hurt her and it had saved her from the monsters attacking her. So she would cling to its tough hide until it realised that it would have to take her with it. Demon or not. She looked up at its head and kept him in her sight. He would not escape her.

The demon-human kept her gaze for a little while before breaking their eye-contact. Or head-eye contact, because she wasn't even sure if it had eyes somewhere. She could feel its mind growing still as it fell asleep and guessed that it was alright for now. She crawled over to his legs and snuggled against the place where his thighs would be. The place between his legs should have been nice and warm, but it was cold and hard, unyielding and- to her mind- indestructible. She wouldn't have want to trade her place for anywhere else she knew safe for her mother's loving embrace.

Which she knew would come again.

-  
_"The SPARTAN-II's are too spread thin. However capable they are, they cannot be everywhere at once. Neither are the SPARTAN-III's the ones that we would choose for this. _

"_There are too many possibilities for missions and operations in this war. And we cannot allow the III's to get tangled in other kind of missions, neither do we have enough II's to participate in the…missions you are talking about."_

"_That is why I propose another…idea. We do not need many II's and the III's are not capable enough, we need something in-between. How many orphans did the covenant create at? Gallyfrey?" _

"_Thousands… thousands Colonel…"_

"_We shall do the same as we did with the III's but this time, doing the same program as the II's underwent."_

"_You ant to create more SPARTAN-II's? How much do you think this will cost?"_

"_I want to create no more than twenty Spartans at the same time. And they shall not operate as teams, but as lone agents. I have sent you the reports."_

-Conversation between Colonel Ackerson and ERROR-DATA- CORRUPTED, after the destruction of Gallyfrey-II on 18 December, 2536

**Describing the thought progress of a baby Pokémon- for it was indeed a Pokémon that appeared- was harder than I guessed. I hope I pulled it off. If any of you can guess Which Pokémon! Then you shall receive a cookie.**

**Rate and Review ladies and gentlemen! It was my pleasure.**


	4. A new world

**Hello people, back with another chapter. I was actually joking with the 'guess which one' joke, but **Lay Down Hunter **still wins my very first internet cookie!**

**Not very much to say for now, except a thank you to a new review and new followers/favers. I hope that I can keep entertaining you all! **

**Any and all forms of feedback are welcome and appreciated.**

"Speech" –human speech

"**Speech"** – Pokémon speech

_`Speech`_- Pokémon speech to humans

Ralts lvl 7

_Significant moves: teleport_

"_How about this one?"_

"_Have you read his psych-profile? No way that we are going to pick one of those." _

"_The trainees won't have to worry about other humans and teammates. They will operate on their own, without any form of social contact to worry about."_

"_I still don't-"_

"_Fine, I hereby pull rank on you. Make it happen girl!"_

"_Yes sir…"_

_-_Conversation between Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield and Colonel Ackerson- 29 December 2536

The Spartan woke and immediately reached for the assault rifle on his back. The dark cloak of night had been lifted as the first rays of sunlight warmed the forest. Everything came back to life, sounds and cries of many animals filled the air and his trained eyes tracked movement everywhere. That was probably what woke him up; increased movement in the area.

A muffled cry sounded the instant he raised from his slumber and he looked around, searching for the cause of the weird sound. Then he realised that he had nearly knocked the white animal that he had taken with him off the branch. It had been sleeping on his arm for some reason and when he moved, so had she.

But in a less controlled way.

And now it was hanging on for dear life on a twig. Funny how the creature was so petite that it could hang on a twig only thick enough to normally support a leaf.

"_Ralts ralts_!" It cried. Whoops. He reached over and carefully grabbed the little thing with his hand. Then he opened his hand, so that the animal stood could stand on his hand palm. He slowly reached out with his other hand and covered the creature up,

"Hang tight." He said. He knew that it couldn't really understand him and that it would probably panic because of his restriction, but he still talked to it merely because he felt like he was doing…something.

With his hands covering the delicate animal he jumped out of the tree and landed on the ground- four meters down- bending his knees slightly to dissipate the force of his landing. The ground shook a little as half a ton of human landed and he could hear many small animals scurrying away over the leaves. He spotted what looked like a big, purple rodent running across the area. Perhaps a descendant from earth's native animals, just like the canines were? Perhaps.

He realised he would need to keep his guard up, even this close to the village.

Which he was going to visit without keeping his weapon at the ready. Because he completely trusted the signs that he found and knew that they weren't hostiles.

He sighed and realised that he would rather face an entire country run by Innies than face a small village run by civilians. His social skills were…severely lacking. To say in the least.

But still, he needed to know directions and information. And he needed it fast.

So when he walked up to the laboratory, practicing complete conversations all the while, he found himself still a bit hesitant to knock on the door. Was he forgetting something?

Faint and muffled cries coming from his hands provided him with the answer. He was still holding his companion in his hands; not the most comfortable position. He quickly removed his upper hand and allowed the creature to move freely once again.

"You know what," he said, "why don't you walk for a while? It might be good for you, some movement."

He brought his glove down to the ground as he spoke and to his surprise, the creature nodded.

It actually provided him with a valid response, something that he still couldn't do when having to response to conversations that didn't involve him getting orders.

Could it still be coincidence? He thought as he gently knocked on the door.

"it's open!" A male voice responded from the inside. The Spartan gazed at the white creature at his feet for a little while longer before opening the door. He had to bend a little bit to prevent his helmet from scraping the doorpost as he entered. He held the door open long enough for the creature to follow him inside and then he closed it behind it.

"Hello?" The Spartan said, not knowing what to expect. He recognised two people in simple clothing and one older man with a white lab coat. He suspected that this man would be the most valid source of information for his presence and he took a step forward.

On of the two males turned around to see who was entering, as if people entering their laboratory happened on a daily basis- and grew white as he beheld the sight before him. He slowly reached out and touched his colleague on the shoulder, who then turned around too and responded in the same kind.

Great. It was the kind of response he got from everyone he met, safe for the most battle-hardened officers. He wasn't even that imposing here! The people didn't know him if everything was in order and he wasn't even covered in blood, entrails or burn marks. He had cleaned his armour after the disastrous battle for Aegis III, so why were they gazing like that.

"Professor?" One of the males said, leading the Spartan to suspect that they might be assistants or aides for the elderly person.

"Yes?" The man said and turned around. His facial expression- as far as the Spartan could read those darn things- changed from annoyed to shock and then to disbelief.

"What..." he said and his mouth fell open a bit- although not as far as those of the aides. To his credit, the professor quickly recovered and waved to the two men. "Back to work you two!" he said distracted and then gestured for the Spartan to come over.

"I don't think I have every seen you here before, might I ask who you are?"

The man was clearly impressed by the Spartan's appearance but he had managed to recover quickly and was even speaking to him formally. This man…impressive, to some degree.

Then, his little white companion slowly walked out from behind his legs and showed itself to the old man. His eyes grew big and his tight face relaxed, delight and pleasure obviously radiating from his face.

Did this man just relax in the presence of a Spartan? He grew a little suspicious, but kept his doubt to himself. This situation required diplomacy. And he was content to let the creature do the talking.

"Hello there!" The professor said and kneeled in front of the little thing. "And who might you be?"

The old man's enthusiasm to local wildlife was a bit weird. Perhaps this was a rare specimen? Of an endangered species?

"I found it in the woods, after I landed a few miles west from here." The Spartan said.

The old man frowned slightly and stood back up. Then he extended his hand to the newcomer in his lab. That was him.

Dumbstruck by the professor's gesture, the Spartan took his hand and shook it. If the old man had any trouble pressing his hand in an unyielding gauntlet that could completely crush his hand, he didn't give any indication of it.

"I am professor Oak!" He said.

The Spartan wanted to respond with his serial number, but that would either reveal his presence as military or alienate the villagers. He needed neither of those options.

"You can call me Spartan," he said. The professor's eyebrows rose as he mentioned that name, but he didn't otherwise respond to it.

"You said you landed here?" Oak then asked him. His eyes ran over the Spartan's armor again and this time his eyes rested on the weapons that adorned his back. "You are a soldier." It wasn't a question and the old man didn't sound too happy about it. "What are you doing here now? The war is over!"

Had there been a war here? Was he talking about the Human-Covenant war or some silly civil war? Perhaps a world war? He decided he would have to trust this professor and tell him the truth.

"I do not come from this world, I came from another world." He paused and gestured to the ceiling. "From up there. Is this a UNSC colony?"

The professor scratched his head and looked confused. The Spartan felt a gaze lingering on him and he concluded that the aides felt more interested in him than in their work.

"You came from another planet?" Which one!" The professor seemed to be getting interested; temporarily forgetting the fact that he didn't like soldiers. "Which system, from where did you come?"

So these people didn't know about the UNSC or the colonies? That didn't make any sense. He decided to play along for a little while.

"This world isn't the only one with humans on it. Back in our system, the solar system, humanity evolved on a planet called Earth They spread amongst the stars and started settling other planets." He paused and thought about how to form his next sentence. "Some people didn't like what happened and formed the terrorist rebel group called the Insurrectionists. I need to get back to the UNSC- the United Nations Space Command- to continue fighting."

"This…"Oak muttered. "This is unbelievable. If what you say and are is true…then why are you here? Why did you land here?"

The Spartan winced inwardly as he realised that he would have to continue talking. His throat already started to hurt. The only thing that kept him talking was the subject. He could take formally about this without having to resort to social skills.

"Humanity has the technology to travel through…" he stopped himself as he realised that he couldn't explain Slipspace technology to this man; even he didn't fully grasp the process.

"…through holes in space that we temporarily create. Our ship had a malfunction and it ended up here."

"So where is the rest of your crew?" Oak asked. This was the part where the Spartan would have to start manipulating the truth to prevent potential conflicts.

"Our ship was disabled; it can't travel anymore. I don't know what happened to the crew." It wasn't exactly a lie; he didn't know what happened to the crew. Only that they had died because of it."

"And how did you land here? Did your ship crash? You said that it didn't work anymore, so I take that you had to land here to get help?"

All this talking was getting on his nerves, so he had to end this quickly. "All I know is that I have no idea in what star system I am. Have your people developed to a way to chart the nearby stars?"

"Uh? Professor?" One of the aides quietly said. "Our…guest…can watch the maps on the nearby pc if he wants to?"

The old man clapped in his hands en exclaimed a loud 'Ah!'

"Of course! I completely forgot…we can watch the local starsystems on the pc!"

Somehow it didn't surprise the super-soldier that the people here had already developed a certain amount of technology. Humanity has always been rather innovative- as opposed to the Covenant.

As he switched through the localised star maps, a growing sense of unease came over him. He had watched plenty of maps in his rare spare time onboard UNSC ships and he had always tried to remember the charts he saw.

These ones were completely unknown.

Was it because the people on this planet didn't know how to chart stars? Or could it be that he had stumbled across a completely new star system?

Then why were there already people here? It didn't make any sense.

And then it occurred to him that the Platernus had made an underpowered slipspace jump. It had somehow killed off the entire crew, so could it have had other side effects? Like their random trajectory being completely scrambled? He didn't know how long he had been out. The laws of physics rarely applied to slipspace and theirs had been no easy one. For all he knew he could be at the edge of the universe. But to find humans there?

The professor seemed equally taken aback by the whole situation. In the minute that the Spartan spend watching the star charts and forming conclusions, Oak was busy watching the little white creature that sat against the soldier's leg.

"Were did you find that Ralts?" he asked while the Spartan was reading.

"The what?" he responded, not understanding what the professor had just said.

Oak frowned and realised that the newcomer must have never seen a pokemon in his life. That was sad, really.

"This world is inhabited by creatures that we have come to name Pokémon. These creatures inhabit an extremely diverse range of habitats, ranging from the driest deserts to the thickest jungles, the deepest oceans to the highest mountains. There are many pokemon species and they play a very important role in our lives. You see, humans and pokemon have coexisted together for many years Some people even capture Pokemon and train them, becoming pokemon trainers. Their ultimate goal is to become the pokemon Master by challenging the League."

The Spartan was thankful for the new information, as it could keep his mind off the horrible discovery that his mind had yet to understand. "Pokemon? Are they the local wildlife?"

"Yes."

He pondered that for a while before responding. "What do you mean by train them?"

The professor grinned and grabbed a red and white ball. He pressed a button in the middle of the object in it became twice as big, advanced technology not quiet unlike the UNSC's. Oak then aimed to ball at the ground and pressed the button again. It opened up and a red…beam shot out of it. A white outline was visible for a split-second before something else appeared.

The Spartan frowned. A small light-blue turtle stood on its hind legs between him and the professor. It had a red-brown shell and light plates that covered its stomach. It possessed three digits on each limb and- surprisingly- had a long tail that ended in a curl.

"Squirt squirtle?" It said with a voice that sounded weirdly human and yet still very animal like.

This professor had technology that could disassemble and reassemble organic matter? That was beyond even the Covenant. Whoever these humans were, they were most certainly not with the UNSC.

So who were they?

"How did you do that!" The Spartan demanded. He would have pulled out his weapon before but he did not want to engage these people without knowing exactly what they could do.

"It is called a poke ball. The exact workings are still…not quite as known to us as we would like to but I shall go ahead and explain to the best I can. But before that…"

He pressed a button again and the same red laser that he saw earlier shot out of the ball and hit the turtle. The instance it hit, the pokemon lit up red and disappeared in a red…form of energy?

"Take a guess! How do you think this works?" The professor said with a smirk. While he was talking he took bowl and filled it with weird brown chunks of what looked like food. He then set it to the ground and presented it to the 'Ralts' that was sitting next to the Spartan, dozing a bit. It immediately sprung to attention and took a step backward.

Without hesitation the Spartan looked down at the Pokemon and said: "Don't worry, no one will hurt you in here."

The little thing gazed up at his helmet and then took a tentative step forwards. Then another.

Before soon it was chewing on the food that Oak had put down for it as the Spartan tried his best to explain what he saw.

"It seems like a laser hit the turtle-"

"-Squirtle- "

"and proceeded to miniaturise it, but not compress. The ball weighed little seeing as you held it with one hand and a relaxed wrist- so the creature must have been somehow converted to energy. Seeing as how the ball then attracts the pokemon until is has been folded into it, the energy must be magnetic and the ball is sensitive to the properties of the pokemon it captured. Once converted, the ball gets tailored to that specific pokemon so that none other may be captured with it."

This Oak possessed a quality that the Spartan felt comfortable with. He was able to talk to him without any kind of pressure weighing down on his chest- as long as they were talking about scientific subjects. He had received extensive schooling in both physics and chemistry while undergoing the training and he had a fair amount of knowledge of those subjects.

The professor seemed equally comfortable around the Spartan, but that could have been for different reasons. He still seemed impressed with the knowledge that he possessed and was not shy and telling him so.

`You have got it almost completely right!" He exclaimed and clapped in his hands. There are a few more technical riffraff's that I will not discuss right now."

The two aides had left half an hour ago and the Spartan was now alone with the Ralts and oak. He had enjoyed the conversation, but more urgent matters were now pressing down on his thoughts. The Covenant. The religious alien collection had nearly defeated the UNSC over Sigma Octanus IV and the Spartan had no idea what had happened in the time since they had escaped the glassing of Aegis III.

"Even tough I have no idea where I am…" he started, "…I still have a duty to fulfil. I need to find a communications outpost and try and contact the UNSC. Even if it might take them weeks to find me." He winced as he realised that within weeks, humanity might have fallen.

Oak seemed distracted for a while, looking at the Ralts that was sitting on the floor and back to the Spartan.

"I believe that Saffron city might have a radar dish installed…but we haven't heard from them in a while. It is a long journey but I believe… with the right companions it you should reach it within a week."

"A week? This man didn't seem to know just what a Spartan was capable off. Besides, he could just march to the place where he had landed the Pelican and fly to this saffron city!

"I have a ship parked only a day's walk away. I will take it and search for this saffron city. Is there anything I should know?"

Professor Oak seemed troubled by the statement. "This planet has its troubles… but both the Pokemon and the humans function together. If your government were to find us… to find the Pokemon…"

"Don't worry. They have more pressing thoughts on their minds than some animals."

"No!" Oak said, his voice suddenly more powerful and commanding that he had sounded the whole day. "That is exactly what I worry about! I don't know exactly how the creatures on your planets function, but from what you've told me they have no more potential than a non-evolving Magikarp might have!"

The Spartan didn't know what a Magikarp was and he didn't care. What he did care for was the potential that the professor's words carried.

"What can these pokemon do that makes them so special?" He asked, gazing down at the Ralts. He thought about the many coincidences that had happened during the journey to this village and slowly started to think that perhaps this world was completely unlike any other he had encountered thus far.

"For starters, almost every single pokemon can understand human speech. They are all very intelligent, most of them as intelligent as you or me. Besides that…" He reached to his desk and the Spartan tensed, ready to disarm the professor if he were to pull a weapon.

That didn't happen. Oak had pulled out a chart with fifteen names on it and presented it to him as a teacher might present his class with a picture. The Spartan took note of the fact that the professor said pokemon trainer and pokemon master. What did he mean by that?

He asked the old man about the training of pokemon and challenging other people with them and the professor told him. He spoke about using the creatures to fight against each other and let them grow; to train them and eventually grow strong enough to challenge a gymleader. The whole concept of using the animals to fight with other people was… rather foreign. But Oak assured him that these fights were not barbaric as they never ever resulted in death or serious injuries.

"These are the fifteen pokemon types that we have discovered until now. As you can see, they are most…differing from your animal experiences. He pulled out his ball again and the blue turtle reappeared.

"Squirtle, use water gun on that wall!" Oak instructed. The Squirtle nodded and turned to his left. He then inhaled and literally spewed a thick beam of water, nearly causing the Spartan to once again pull his gun. The mere fact that these humans- on the other side of the galaxy and their companions that defied physics- existed here, now and like that manner caused the Spartan to think back about the lectures he had visited one month ago.

What Humanity knew of the forerunners.

The covenant had believed them to be gods, humanity had discovered the ancient race's artifacts. More than that ONI had not managed to puzzle together, only that the forerunners must have existed long ago and possessed incredible technology. Had they visited this planet? Or had these people simply crashed here because of a similar slipspace incident and then thrived, developing awesome technology from the planet's resources? He couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

These creatures…these Pokemon… if they were indeed as developed as the professor told him… then they could be used in the war. They UNSC could sue every advantage they could get against the covenant.

He turned and looked at the little Ralts. It was had been staring at him this whole time, the little horns on its head were quivering ever so slightly and it looked disturbed again.

"These creatures are so unique… wouldn't you agree? As a man fighting for what he believes is right, don't you think these pokemon are worth fighting for?" Oak asked him, recalling the squirtle to his ball.

"I don't know." The Spartan replied. "I need some time to digest everything I learned here."

"Take your time!" Oak said and smiled. "There is a place called Viridian city around a mile to the north from here. If you follow route 1 then there won't be a problem. Take your time to get used to living here and-"

"Living here?" The Spartan interrupted him. "Who says that I will live here?"

Oak frowned and placed his hands in his pockets. "Well, seeing as your ship was destroyed and you still have no means of contacting your people, I presumed that you would be staying here? Even if you could manage to contact this… UNSC, was that it? You said it would still take weeks before they found you." His tone adopted some undertone the Spartan could not understand and the old man softly added: "I'm sorry, for whatever it is worth."

The armoured figure was silent for several seconds before responding- and when he did, the little Ralts sitting by its legs seemed to straighten up a bit. "It doesn't matter what it will take; I will get back in the fight."

The professor frowned and seemed thoughtful for a few seconds. "You can still go to viridian city. The journey will get your mind sorted a bit and you can train your Ralts a bit too."

The Spartan nodded before responding. "I would rather get to my dropship and find my way to this Saffron city myself, if it is all the same with you."

"Very well."

The super-soldier turned and was about to leave when the professor called out to him."

"Spartan wait, you forgot your Pokemon!"

The soldier turned around and his gaze rested on the Ralts. He recalled the professor's explanation about pokemon fights and challenging gymleaders to fight the 'league'. One plus one…

"Do you want me to keep that Ralts?" He saw the facial expression on Oak's face change once again. Damn, he hated how emotions could change the faces of everyone he met. He never quite saw what they actually meant. If her were to guess, he'd say that he had said something that the old professor didn't agree with.

He was right.

"Some people see pokemon as nothing more than tools to achieve their goals. Whilst I do not think I can make you change your mind, I can only implore you to realise that Pokemon are deserving of the same respect and dignity as another human being would be. They can be your friends, not your possessions!"

The Spartan thought back to the crew of the Platernus. He had seen them as tools to complete his mission too. Only the last two missions had slightly changed his opinion of them and only their deaths had fully made him realise that they were more than that. And now they were gone.

Just like everyone he actually knew.

He could make amends; he could take this weird course and train together with the Ralts. Oak had said that every Pokemon possessed qualities that made them unique. But his duties were all too clear. He needed to continue fighting and protect mankind. He could not allow himself to indulge in self-pitying or other silly little emotional feelings that other people felt. Why?

Screw why.

The faint tingling at the back of his skull returned and for the first time he immediately came up with a valid explanation for it: It was stress. Stress unlike he had ever endured, for something was preventing him from doing what he needed to do. That had never happened before.

Alright, he would take the Ralts with him on the trip back to the Pelican dropship and keep it with him until he reached the Communications dish in Saffron city. But when the UNSC showed up to take him away he would leave the little Pokemon with Oak.

"I understand. I will take care of the Ralts until my people come to pick me up. Will you care for it afterwards?"

Oak sighed and he stared at his feet for a few seconds. Then he looked at the Ralts that was still standing between them, not knowing what to do, and he decided.

"Very well. Good luck on your journey, both of you."

And with that, the Spartan beckoned for the Ralts to come over. If he would have to wait for weeks to get the UNSC to find him, he might as well make it some good weeks. Not that he would need good weeks; he could operate without them as well.

"Come one little one, time for you to take some crash courses." The last thing he wanted was for the little creature- that was as smart and understanding as other humans, according to the pokemon professor- to get hurt again. So he would teach it as much as he could so ensure its survival.

The two of them walked for some time in the same direction as they had come from and it became apparent that the Ralts wasn't happy. Why that would be was completely unknown to the Spartan.

"So, you could understand me all this time?" He said, not completely believing the power of Pokemon.

The Ralts looked at his legs before turning its head away, not amused.

That caused the Spartan to stop. If the two of them were to stay together for the coming time, they would need to perform in optimal capacity. They couldn't allow their grievances to interfere with the objective and they would have to be able to trust each other. That was the theory behind working in a team according to his instructors.

He kneeled down in front of the pokemon. "What's wrong?" he asked it.

"_Ral ralts_!" It said with an agitated voice. He wasn't able to determine what was troubling it; it should have been happy to stay with him for the time to come!

Or didn't it want to? He would determine what troubled it when they would arrive at the pelican.

"Come on, let's keep moving. Do you know the principles behind guerrilla warfare? Perhaps I can make a decent soldier out of you…"

Oh that stupid, thick headed demon! When he had taken her to the house of well-aged-human she had half expected to be attacked again. There was always some form of risk when she was with the big creature and it was always her that would get the trouble.

Like that one time when he had nearly thrown her out of the big tree. She had been sleeping, as she should when it was dark, when suddenly the demon had moved and pulled a big stick from his back. He had been so sudden and quick about his movement that he had completely caught her unaware!

Of course she had been sleeping but that didn't count.

The sudden shift of his leg had thrown her through the air and she had barely managed to grab hold of a little branch before falling to her death.

Of course the nearest branch where she would have landed on was like twenty inches down, but that didn't take away the fact that she had almost fallen!

"**Help!" **She had yelled at him. **"I don't want to fall! Please help me!"**

But before she could slip, a strong hand had wrapped around her and she had been pulled up by the powerful demon. It was obvious that he didn't want her to get hurt or he wouldn't have rescued her. But still, he had been the one to put her in danger!

She felt herself rising as the demon-human stood. He couldn't understand anything she said, she was sure. Any attempts to mentally interact with him had only shown her garbled and confused feelings. She still couldn't feel any of his emotions save for the occasional twang of certainty that seemed to lighten his entire being- if only for a split-second before it disappeared between his reinforced mind.

"Hang tight." He spoke and she felt his hand wafer as it took another position. Before she could say anything else, his other hand had covered her entire body up and the branch groaned when the weight on it disappeared. A sense of weightlessness nearly overcame her as the demon flew through the air. When he landed, she thought for sure that she had died.

But she hadn't died.

Instead she had felt the first real sense of joy that she had known in a long time, ever since her parents left her even. The sudden move that the demon made had lightened her mood and she was happy for a while. She sat in his hand for a long time, slightly bouncing up and down as her carrier walked. It was so fast, she could barely believe it. By the time they had arrived at the human-nest-group she had began to feel a bit sore from all the bouncing, so she had cried out for the demon to stop moving and let her out. The hand covering her up lifted and once again she felt the glare of sunlight on her head.

"You know what," She suddenly heard. "Why don't you walk for a while? It might be good for you, some movement." And then his hand had moved downwards and again she felt the weightlessness she had come to enjoy. But this lasted no longer than a second before she had arrived at the ground. She understood the meaning of the words spoken to her. She was supposed to walk on her own now? That wouldn't be a big problem, but why all of a sudden? Why now?

It didn't matter. She nodded at him to let him know that she understood.

From that point onwards, things seemed like a blur to her. The well-aged-man had spoken to the demon- which could understand the old human without trouble so he had to be human as well- and they had spoken of many things. During that time the well-aged-man had opened up the Resting-ball of which her father had told her and a large, blue Pokemon had come out of it. Its emotions were almost the exact opposite of the demon's ; they were happy and sure, not having a single thing to worry about.

If only she could have felt like that during the conversation. Now, as the well-aged-man had given her something to finally ease her stomach on, she had felt the same feelings from the demon that had caused her distress before: he still wanted to leave her behind.  
well-aged-man, also going by the name of Tree, had told the demon many things.

The demon was mean and didn't tell Tree the things that he originally wanted to tell him. Why did it have to be so difficult? Why couldn't it simply tell Tree what it wanted?

She nearly doze off after the blue-turtle had been summoned a second time when she felt a sudden change in the feelings of the demon. For a short time it felt uneasy, with a little mixture of feeling abandoned thrown with it. Then he turned around and was about to leave her behind when Tree called him back and snapped at him for not understanding something he had said. After that, the demon had finally called her species' name correctly and gestured for her to follow him

A small thought of content radiated from him. It was pleased about things; the world began to make sense to him again.

She knew what he felt, if only for a fraction of time and not even completely. What she was able to feel from him was that he could stay with her for some time, before his fellow humans would pick him up. After that, she was to stay with Tree.

It wasn't something she liked, but she knew that the demon didn't belong here. As they walked back to the forest where they came from, the demon slightly turned his head to her and spoke with a sense of direction. Now that he knew that she could understand him- the stupid, thick headed male that he was- he actually spoke to her like he expected a long conversation.

"So, you could understand me all this time?"

Whatever, he was still planning to leave her. With a sense of doubt to gaze at his powerful legs before turned her head away. She would show him how unhappy she was with his decision! Either leave her behind now or stay with her to the end, but do not leave after a set amount of time you big leaver!

He suddenly stopped in front of her and dropped to her height, aiming his scary mirror-like head at hers. She thought for sure that she had insulted him and that he was about to punish her for it, because even Tree had sensed that the demon was not like other humans.

And than he asked her whether she was all right or not!

Silly demon, of course she wasn't!

"**You want to leave me behind! I want to stay, don't threaten me with loneliness!" **She cried at it. It didn't move an inch, but she felt his feelings concealing his thoughts. They were moving and fluctuating with a speed that only her mother could have matched. The thought of her mother saddened her and she had to bite back a cry of anguish. Why did her parents leave here? Where had they gone? Didn't they-

"Come on, let's keep moving." The demon-human said and rose, shaking her out of her little cocoon of sadness. "Do you know the principles behind guerrilla warfare? Perhaps I can make a decent soldier out of you…"

…

What?

"_The training is proceeding excellently sir, the trainees are learning at a pace fast enough for our schedule. Of course there are a few problems here and there. The one I wish to address is the trainee zero-one-one, Math. He is-"_

"_Different?"_

"_Yes ma'am. He is not like the other kids. Some of our methods don't work with him and other methods work only with him. Are you sure of his place? I have read his psych profile, but-"_

"_If you read his profile, you should know how to act. Or don't you people know how to place these kind of children?"_

"_No ma'am, only mothers do."_

- conversation between specialist Jennifer Sunfield and drill sergeant Mcgonnary- 15 January 2537

**And that was chapter four. I have been working hard lately, as I enjoy writing in my spare time. So our Spartan tries desperately to escape the path that fate has set out for him! Will he be successful? Will he fail?  
Will he finally learn how to correctly read facia expressions? Stay tuned for chapter five!**

**Don't forget to post feedback and stuff.**


	5. New challenges arise

**I was kind of amazed by the new amount of reviews that people left me. It brought happiness to my heart : ,)**

**Stay Down Hunter: ****I am glad that I managed to get you to stay with me, you won't regret it! **

**Our only ****Guest:**** I kind of share your feelings there; I'd also like this story to have more reviews and chapters. And while I cannot make the first thing happen, I can most certainly act up and give you some more chapters!**

… **In any case, thanks for the nice words!**

**Primordial Soul****: I don't know how to respond to the amount of great feedback you provide me with. I can only express my gratitude and quickly move on to the next reviewer, before I have to make up excuses of getting something in my eye ;)**

**To both ****Siphon 117**** and ****thestaradder ****I can only say that you will have to see :D**

**Lol I am so cryptic.**

**And last but certainly not least ****Spartan 262**: **I'm glad I have supplied you with both entertainment and some curiosity. But don't worry; I've yet to explain why he took the Ralts…**

**Keep the reviews coming!**

~0~

"_Even though we have been living here for a long time; there are still many things we don't know yet. But there are a few things that we do know for sure. And one of them is the terrorist organisation that runs by the name of Team Rocket. These… people… range from common thugs to borderline murderers and they are organised. They have been organising for months now and they are planning something big."_

"_I share your suspicions concerning Team Rocket but there is nothing we can do for now. They are too wide spread and dug in for us to take them down."_

"_I pray that you are wrong…"_

- Conversation between Professor Samuel Oak and an unknown Gym leader.

~0~

Ralts: Lvl 7, significant moves: teleport

~0~

For some reason, the Ralts didn't enjoy the workouts that he had planned for it. During their trip to the cliff side where the Pelican was parked, he had started the exercise and training regime to get the Pokemon in a good enough shape to defend itself if necessary. After the UNSC would come and pick him up, the Pokemon would be left alone with Oak. And while he trusted the old professor in his caretaking of Pokemon; he didn't trust anyone else on the planet. So the Ralts would eventually need to fight its enemies all by itself.

And until the Spartan found out exactly what the Ralts could do- seeing as the pokemon professor told him that every Pokemon had unique abilities- physical training would have to suffice.

But as it turned out, that proved to be harder than he initially thought.

"Come on, let's get you moving. You had a break last time we stopped."

During one of their break-times, he decided that he would try and explain the concept of push-ups. It was one of the most effective ways he knew to train a human body and the Pokemon seemed slightly humanoid. It could be privy to human exercise.

"You lie down on your stomach, on the ground."

"Ralts?"

"Yes, like that." Why did Pokemon speech comprise mostly out of their own names? It didn't make sense. He didn't hear the Professor say 'Oak Oak' when talking so why should these creatures?

Then he remembered that the Grunts he fought in the war spoke in such garbled nonsense that they might as well have been yelling 'Grunt! GRUNT!' when they fought. Maybe it was a universal thing?

"And now you extend your arms to your side, a bit wider than your legs. Good, now you push yourself up."

And he watched with amusement as the little Ralts tried to push itself up from the floor. Its thin arms quivered and it pushed with all its might. Eventually, it succeeded in lifting itself from the ground.

"_Ralts_!" It exclaimed when it did, apparently very proud of itself.

The Spartan considered telling the Pokemon that – for a push-up to be effective- it would have to do at least twenty a day. But that would most likely destroy whatever confidence this creature had. And the anatomy of Pokemon probably varied more than the personalities of the every ODST ever.

Yes, that was an insult to the soldiers.

"Good enough," he said as the Ralts let itself fall back on the ground, tired and worn out by its achievement. "Can you try again?"

The Ralts squealed and covered its head with its arms. It was somewhat funny, to see it cowering before the concept of physical exhaustion. As if the small arms covering its head could protect it from having to work hard.

"One more time, it won't-" He stopped midsentence as he felt a weird tingle in his neck. It wasn't the tingle that he was used to getting every now and then since the Slipspace accident, but this was something he was used to his entire life. Something that had saved him many times over and always signalled imminent death one way or another.

It was the feeling of someone about to attack.

He spun around- grabbing his assault rifle in the process- just in time to see a large, brown avian flying towards them with incredible speed. It had a birdlike body covered with brown-red feathers and a vulture-like neck. The Spartan's trained eyes could see the powerful muscles contracting in the bird's wings as they moved up and down, trapping and moving the air underneath. It possessed a long, pointed pink beak and a large, decorative comb on its head. The eyes gleamed with predatory satisfaction and the Spartan had no doubt about the fact that the thing wanted him dead. He was probably trespassing on its territory or something, but he had no intention of ending up dead.

He didn't know much about the local Pokemon, but if the vultures back on earth told him anything then it was that this bird's beak should not be underestimated- even tough his armor would protect him from most likely everything the bird could throw at him.

The Pokemon- for this had to be one- screamed and dove at them, its speed ever increasing and its wings tucked tightly against its body to minimize friction.

He could open fire now and kill the bird. It would cost him nothing but a bullet.

But he had the feeling that the strange community of humans and pokemon living together would not appreciate any killed individuals, even though this creature was attacking him. It only acted on instinct and had made the mistake of thinking that it could take him.

Then again there was nobody in the area and the sound of his shot could easily be misinterpreted for another pokemon doing…whatever it was that they did. It would be so easy…

His finger rested on the trigger and he suppressed the urge to pull it.

No, he would not spend his weeks here killing everything that attacked him. He would kill everything that attacked him with a gun or a knife, but he would not punish local wildlife just for acting on their impulses. Besides, the people here would not take kindly to any murder of a Pokemon- of that he was sure. Because he would still leave a body if he pulled the trigger or dispatched the creature in close-combat. He would have to fend it off the hard way.

Damnit he was getting soft already.

The wild Pokemon approached him with a speed that only a Spartan could be able to dodge. He waited for the last possible second and then sidestepped; the bird completely missing him and continuing in its momentum. That was easy.

But it was moving too fast and it didn't do anything to correct its course. And then Math realised what the bird was doing and he cursed underneath his breath for not noticing. The creature wasn't after him!

It was after his little companion resting on the ground.

Time simultaneously sped up and slowed to a crawl; a feat that was to be contributed to his augmented nerve system. He turned around as fast as he could and extended his arm in a desperate attempt to grab the bird's tail. Too slow, he was too slow.

The creature's beak extended and the Spartan had no doubts about what that monstrous thing could do to the terrified Ralts. It didn't have any time to get up or seek cover, it happened way too fast. Why hadn't it run or moved as soon as it spotted the bird? That was the sole reason that it refused to do any more exercise, because it saw the bird and got scared.

Why hadn't it moved!

The Spartan willed himself to move faster, to act quicker. His right arm pivoted and he realised that his left arm had left the barrel of the rifle in his misguided attempt to grab the bird. He was now wielding his weapon with only one hand and it would have to do.

He pulled the trigger and at the same time his legs had finally turned to face the bird, together with the rest of his body. Even as the bullet left the barrel he began to move, taking one step after another in a world that seemed stuck in honey.

The first shot went wide- but even a shot that went wide was deadly when fired by a Spartan. The bullet raced towards the bird and grazed the birds comb, leaving a red trail as it tore off the first few millimetres in its trail. The second shot should have entered the creatures left flank in the back and exited from the front, but for some reason there was no trail of blood.

Damn thing must have a thick layer of feathers to protect it, because the way it reacted was by giving a loud shriek and continued on its way. Still, the two grazing shots were enough to affect it in such a way that it lifted its head and allowed its claws to come into play.

Even as the Spartan dumped his rifle and reached full sprinting speed, the claws closed around his Pokemon and the bird lifted off. It was so incredibly fast that if he didn't reach it within a few seconds it would completely disappear in the air.

He pushed one leg in front of another, moving at speeds impossible to a human being. The only things that limited his burst of speed were the tendons stretching and relaxing in his ankles.

He had promised Ralts that he would protect it- even as he had sworn to himself that he would leave in a few weeks, with the Pokemon being able to live its life without further troubles.

The bird had now reached the point in its dive where it would have to climb in order to effectively get away.  
A moment of weakness, just as the Spartan had his. He wished he hadn't thrown his rifle to the side. It seemed like he couldn't risk any more shots without hitting his Pokemon, but now he was getting closer and closer and it seemed like he could take out the bird without having a stray shot...hurt Ralts. But the dead weight of the bird would have probably crushed his Pokemon on impact and he couldn't risk that either.

He was so close now, he could barely reach them! In the final few meters of his sprint he jumped; the momentum of his sprint, combined with the power-enhancing features of his MJOLNIR armor allowed him to get a good fifteen feet in the air. He was so close to the avian now- he could see the scales on its powerful legs, the texture of its feathers and the clenched tendons in the claw where it held his Ralts.

His Pokemon was surprisingly unhurt. The bird probably wanted to take it to a place where it could enjoy dinner without having seven feet tall armoured super soldiers running around.

Silly thing, there wasn't a place on this planet where it would be safe from a Spartan.

The time-dilation had reached its apex now. Soon, the ultra-boosted adrenal hormones that run through his circuitries would dissipate and normal adrenaline would follow. His perception of time would run ever faster until he had reached the normal view of time- which was still slower than any normal human's would be, but not enough to rescue his Pokemon.

It was now or never.

He chose which leg he would grab hold of; of course the free one to reduce risk to his companion.

The bird cocked its head in surprise as it noticed the metal man suddenly next to it.

To its prey, the bird always signalled death. His claws were deadly and his beak ruthless. Its prey only had to take o look at his eyes to realise that they were lost; that were going to die and that there was no escape. To his prey, he was a god, ending their lives when his body demanded food.

And as it gazed into the weird face of the creature that had jumped many distances into the air to reach him, it realised that there could be one thing that was worse than staring into the death-dealing eyes of a hunter.

And that was to stare in the cold¸ immoral mirror that this faceless creature possessed. It looked like a human, but it wasn't. It couldn't be,

And even as the bird realised that it had made a grave, fatal mistake, the monster grabbed hold of his paw. Its grip was as iron, unyielding and unforgiving. The touch of the gauntlet was unworldly, cold and monstrous. It couldn't be real; this had to be a nightmare conjured up by a roosting mind.

And as the metal gauntlet closed around his ankle, he felt a weight unlike any prey he had ever carried with him weigh him down. He refused to give up and flapped his wings as hard as he could, but to no avail. The creature that was hanging in him was pulling him down as easy as a snorlax could tear down a tree to reach the juicy fruit.

He was going down and he couldn't help it.

The Spartan's in his armor weighed at least 500 kilograms and that were more than sufficient to let the bird crash. While they were crashing to the ground, he pried open the avian's claw and pulled the Ralts out. He released his vice grip on the bird's leg and allowed himself to fall to the ground, only spinning himself around to prevent his Pokemon from getting obliterated by his weight.

But then, much to his surprise, the Ralts suddenly glowed with a faint green outline. A strange layer of light surrounded it; enough to make it glimmer with green rays but not enough to obscure the creature's outline. It gestured with one arm and the Spartan felt a weird sensation in the back of his skull. It felt like a drop of freezing-cold water spreading across his skin and suddenly, without him actually remembering willing to, he opened the hand in which he held the Ralts.

With a loud 'Thud' he hit the ground. His shielding dropped a few percent, but it wasn't enough to notice. He scrambled to his feet and searched the area for Ralts. He had no idea why he had just let it go, it simply happened. Thankfully he didn't have to search long.

The little glowing Pokemon was actually levitating in the air, about two meters above the ground. Even as it was slowly lowering itself, the Spartan knew that it had done something the likes of which were never seen before.

"What are you doing?" He said and extended his hand- palm faced upwards- to let the little creature land.

"_Ralts ralts_!" It said and was enthusiastically jumping up and down on his hand. Had it just suspended itself in the air? How did it do that?

The Spartan immediately thought about the implications of what Ralts had just done. Somehow it had prevented itself from falling, keeping its entire weight in the air.

For some reason, he imagined that the little Pokemon was happy. Judging by how it was jumping up and down, sounding almost like it was cheering, it was happy with what it had done.

Then it stiffened and started to collapse, but he quickly placed his other hand behind Ralts and prevented it from falling down. Whether it collapsed because of being exhausted from the physical training that it had done that day or because of the sudden newfound power wasn't clear.

But still, for such a frail and small creature to somehow stop itself from falling was to be commended.

"You did well." He said and softly ran his thumb down the pokémon's head. People did that when they wanted to let the other person know that they were satisfied with their behaviour. He hoped that he had done the gesture right and that the Ralts felt that he was satisfied through the contact.

"_Ral ralts_…" It crooned softly, before letting its head rest on the Spartan's glove.

The Super-soldier looked around, hoping to spot the bird that had nearly taken the Pokemon from him. He might learn something from the creature and he didn't want this experience to be useless.

But to his disappointment, the large avian had disappeared. He thought that he noticed the flapping of wings in the distance, but he might have imagined it.

Water-spewing turtles, energy-converting balls and levitating creatures… it all seemed so… unreal to him. How could he trust his senses when everything he knew was no longer what it seemed? His entire world was twisted upside down and he had barely any control over the situation.

He found his discarded assault rifle and picked it up. After having carefully examined it for any kind of damage, he mounted it on his back.

Even the weight of heavy ordnance had not been enough to tip the situation to his favour, for he couldn't even shoot his way out. The local wildlife was so special that every death was probably considered tragic and there weren't any kind of real hostiles here. He would have to talk his way to the communication dish and than wait in this weird community for another few weeks. What would he do during that time? Simply go ahead and train Ralts, teaching it the arts of combat and warfare?

That might work.

And then? Would he stay in one place or keep moving scouting the area and learning everything there was to learn? He might as well challenge the 'league'.

He frowned and shook his head disapprovingly. Even when jokingly referring to the situation, it was not funny.

His legs automatically carried him in the direction he needed to go and he quickly programmed a new navigation marker in his HUD to display the distance to the dropship.

Thankfully he still had the Pelican dropship, or he would have been forced to walk all the way to this Saffron city. He grew impatient as he realised that he was wasting time thinking about the situation that he found himself in. There would be plenty of time for him to think AFTER he had contacted the UNSC.

If the broadcast sent from the communications dish ever reached UNSC space.

Damnit! Stop thinking about it already, focus on the mission!

He was still carrying Ralts in his hands during his journey to the cliff and he hoped that she didn't mind his bumpy movements. Moving at an average of twenty miles per hour wasn't something that you could do without a little shaking.

The poor thing was still sleeping. It was no wonder; it had almost been devoured by a hungry bird. Talking about bad luck; first the thing with the two dogs and now this. That was exactly why he didn't want to leave it behind without having taught it the necessary techniques to survive.

900 meters to go.

He looked down at the little Ralts when he noticed it stir a little. "Morning."

It raised its head weakly and than yawned. It was rather…nice to watch it yawn. Math felt something move in his stomach region and he decided that it wasn't negative. It was like the little yawn was funny to him, and at the same time inspired a need to protect. What was the word that people used to describe that?

Well, he didn't care what people thought what it meant. He thought it was cute.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"_Ralts_…" it softly said and than looked up at the Spartan. It seemed like a habit of the creature to gaze up at his helmet. He wondered why.

"Feel like showing me what you can?"

"_Ralts ralts_!" It nodded its head- proving the professors point about pokemon understanding human speech. It turned and looked around the area as if searching for something. Then it brought its 'hands' together and- much to the Spartan's dismay- vanished in a green flash.

He immediately grabbed his assault rifle and scanned the area. Where had it gone? Had someone captured it with a poke ball?

Unlikely; there wasn't any indication of any activation whatsoever.

Had it been flash-vaporised by a plasma weapon?

Impossible; the heat would have lowered his shielding and he would have noticed any covenant activity here. He also hadn't heard the distinct whining of plasma weaponry discharging.

He heard a soft tapping noise, as if someone was banging two frying pans together. Ignore.

So what had happened? He had asked the Ralts to show him what it could do and it had vanished. Did he insult the Pokemon?

That was possible, seeing as he didn't know how to NOT insult a person. But he had saved it two times and they had been travelling together for some time now. So why would it feel insulted and leave just because the Spartan asked it to show off some moves?

The weird tapping noise was back. Leave it.

"_Ralts_!" He heard the feminine voice of his companion, very close to his head. So where was it? He turned around and scanned the ground, hoping to see any indication of where the white creature could be.

A third time he heard the tapping- this time it echoed through his helmet. Wait, what? How was that possible?

He crosschecked his HUD and his armor systems and verified that his shielding was still active. How could…?

"_RALTS!_" He heard once again, this time even louder than before. It occurred to him that the Pokemon might have…somehow…teleported itself?

He reached for his helmet and was surprised to feel resistance. Weird. It felt soft, organic even. And then it hit him. He felt for his helmet again and plucked the little Ralts off- which had teleported onto his helmet and had been tapping on it the whole time.

He held it up in his hand and let it dangle for a second while he examined it. "So you can teleport can't you, sneaky little thing!" He wasn't angry at it. He was amused and frankly- a bit impressed. Sure she hadn't jumped at a spirit-dropship and torn the canopy open to murder the helpless covenant soldiers inside but who had?

Apart from him.

The Ralts brought its hands up to its head and giggled. It actually giggled. Why would it?

It seemed that every time that he was feeling even the faintest touch of something positive, Ralts would act up. A weird thought entered his mind and he set the Ralts down on the ground.

"You teleported." He stated. "That's what you do? That weird turtle can spit water while you rearrange your entire molecular structure in a completely different place?"

The Ralts seemed puzzled by his words, as indicated by the left hand that it placed by its mouth. Then it nodded and waved with its arms.

"_Ralts ral ralts_!" It yelled and pointed to the left.

"What's the matter?" He asked, taking notice of how it pointed to the exact place as were they were heading, 500 meters away. "What do you see?"

The Pokemon didn't speak anymore nor would it have mattered. But for some reason the Spartan suspected that it couldn't be good. So he picked his Pokemon up again and placed it on his shoulder. And together they moved. He ran through the thick foliage, taking care not to accidently skewer his companion on one of the branches and Ralts in turn worked hard in not getting knocked off of his shoulder. Eventually, he smelled smoke.

Smoke? How could that be possible? Was something burning?

If there were water pokemon, could there be fire pokemon as well?

He rushed to the cliff side and looked up. He could barely see the crevice from down there but he did see the columns of smoke that originated from it.

Damnit! Had something fragged the pelican? How? Why!

The Ralts on his shoulder gave a soft mournful sound, as if it noticed his distress.

He pried to pokemon from his shoulder again and held it in his hands.

"I am going to climb up there!" He said and pointed at the smoke filled crevice. "Do you want to stay here or come with me?"

The pokemon responded by grabbing his index finger with its hands and pressing its green head against the Spartan's hand palm.

'Probably a yes…' the latter thought and looked up again.

~0~

The demon-human's strong hands picked her up again and placed her on his back, right on top of his two thunder-sticks. He had told her that he meant to climb the cliff, but surely she misunderstood. No human was able to climb that cliff. And seeing as her demon was still too much formed like a human, he would…

Wait a minute, her demon? Since when did she start thinking of him as important to her? He had tried to abandon her once, remember?

But he came back.

His feelings kept making her feel depressed! On the rare occasion that something positive crossed his mind he immediately poisoned it with his negative instincts and feelings, completely ruining her mood. Why did she have to be so sensitive to his state of mind?

But he had complimented her on her physic abilities after he had rescued her again.

She had to admit that the large demon-human had style. She had felt completely terrified when the Fearow had grabbed her. She could sense its desire to eat her and to experience such a thing wasn't exactly…pleasant. It had the potential to develop into a traumatic experience. Many things had to her.

And then, just when she thought that the demon wouldn't come to her aid anymore…he had appeared. Just as he had promised her some time ago; he came to protect her.

Like an angel he leaped in the air and grabbed hold of the Fearow. And like the mighty demon he was he had pulled it right out of the sky. They fell to the ground together, demon and her and even as they fell she had realised that they had become partners. Even though he hadn't captured her in the humans' powerful capturing balls they had become partners. And that realisation, together with seeing her demon's unbelievable bravery and will to protect, had unlocked a hidden potential within her.

The thoughts and feelings of distant creatures had become sharper to her, more pronounced in her mind. She was able to comprehend the emotions that she had never been able to.

And yet the demon remained a mystery to her.

No matter. As opposed to the Pokemon around her, he would remain at her side. He had promised her so, right?

And of course, the main reason for her happiness was the availability of her teleportation abilities. When the demon had hit the ground, she had wanted to demonstrate her newfound ability so bad that she had actually asked him to release her. How she did it was beyond her, but somehow the demon had opened up his hand and she had been free. Free to glide through the air and be released from gravity.

Even if she only levitated to the ground at a slower pace of normal gravity.

And during their trip to...whatever it was he wanted to be? They had actually had a conversation. Like in two Pokemon conversing with each other! Only he was a demon and she was the only one that understood the other but still!

Oh and she passed out from mental exhaustion. That didn't count!

In the end, the demon-human had asked her if she wanted to show him what she could do. She had channelled her inner power- the little knob of energy that now existed in her head- and she had vanished in a flash of brilliant light. But one thing went amiss and that was because she had been aiming at the nearby tree- and had landed directly on the demon's head.

Oh good times. The glorious sound his head made as she had tapped against it. It had sounded weirdly echoing though, but who was she to challenge the body of a demon right?

And now it wanted to climb the cliff. She doubted that he could do it but hey; maybe he would surprise her. Again.

"I am going to climb up there!" He said and pointed to the crevice where the weird foul-smelling-dark air was exiting.

She already knew that silly! Why would he tell her twice?

Or had he? Sometimes she mixed up his decisions and his words. A normal human had little decisions and many words. But this one? He had to be weird and different. This one had many decisions and little words. Perhaps it was shy to speak? Was it ashamed of its voice or something?

"Do you want to stay here or come with me?"

Silly demon. Of course she would stay with him! He was the one that wanted to leave her and not the other way around. He wouldn't understand her if she decided to answer him and he needed some firm confirmation that she would stick around. So did the only thing that she knew he would understand: she grabbed one of his fingers and then pressed her head against the middle of his hand.  
This was called a cuddling. Cuddlings were nice; her parents always her some. No doubt of it! He would understand now!

He simply looked at her before talking again, a faint sense of confusion lingering behind his decisions.

'Probably a yes…'

What?

~0~

He walked to the base of the cliff and looked up. Within a second he had analyzed every possible way of entry to the crevice and all the different paths he could take while climbing there. He had placed the Pokemon safely between the butt's of his guns and the only thing that was left was finding out why the hell his ship was smoking.

He hoped it wasn't as complicated as what had taken the Platernus out. He didn't think he could take another incomprehensible journey to someplace he didn't know.

He grabbed a hold of a ledge and without trouble, lifted himself up and placed his feet on some outcroppings. Moving quicker than the most experienced climber would climb a hill he raced up the stone wall. Sometimes simply climbing and other times pulling so hard that he actually flew up a few feet every time he did. Within two minutes he had climbed the two hundred meter high wall-

-and almost wished he hadn't.

There was the pelican dropship alright- or what was left of it. The entire ship was covered in burning marks and it was most definitely destroyed. Its cockpit had been reduced to some burning pieces of metal and wires, while the engines had been burned through with precision.

Uncanny precision. Whatever did this hadn't done so incidentally- it had actually wanted to destroy it. And it had known how to do so- it had aimed for the cockpit and engines, wanting to destroy the craft with minimal effort.

At first the sight of the burns had caused an ice-cold clarity to replace the Spartan's mind. The covenant was here! The planet was in danger; he needed to contact the UNSC now!

Time slowed and he moved towards the smoking hull, assault rifle at the ready. He didn't notice that Ralts had jumped off before it could fall and step for step he walked forwards. The more he let his eyes glide over the ruined ship the more he began to notice the little details.\

Like how the air didn't smell like it usually smelled after a vehicle had been destroyed by plasma.

And how the burns on the hull didn't match the plasma burns he knew.

Actually the whole scene didn't make enough sense to be a Covenant attack. There hadn't been any sign of dropships or drop-pods and the sky was completely devoid of any shade of purple.

The more he thought about it the more he realised how the situation couldn't be covenant-made.

So what happened?

The people on this world obviously had access to advanced technology. The poke balls and the computers were evident of this. So a human had done this- seeing as a pokemon could not possibly know enough of technology to systematically annihilate a military vehicle.

But a human could not have enough firepower to do this. So a human had to be working together with a fire-pokemon. A trainer had done this.

"Ralts?" He asked, suddenly realising that he had forgotten the pokemon.

It was silent for a few seconds…but then-

"_Ral ral ralts!" _ The familiar voice of his companion rang through the cavern. It was still with him.

What to do? There was only one option now.

"Let's get as many armaments as we can carry and then let's see if we can't find our way back to the lab."

Ralts nodded and- when it thought that the Spartan wasn't looking- slapped its forehead with its palm.

Great, the physic Pokemon that could levitate made fun of him. This couldn't get any worse.

~0~

With a heavy sigh, the Spartan knocked on the laboratory's door. His plan to fly straight to Saffron city had been completely blown away and he found himself unable to continue without proper instructions as where to go.

"The door is open!" The familiar voice of professor Oak said, sounding oddly muffled by the wooden door in-between them.

He nodded at Ralts and then opened the door. The first thing he noticed was that the two aides were back again; working hard at whatever it was that they did. Oak was standing in the back of the room, fondling with some machinery. He turned around to see who had entered and exclaimed a surprised 'Ah!' as he beheld the Spartan's return.

"So you changed your mind? Or were you unable to find the city from the air?"

He didn't sound condescending or sneering; he spoke with genuine surprise and that annoyed the Spartan for some reason. His ship had been rendered useless, half of his stockpiled weapons had been reduced to molten slag and he had to march a long distance though an area inhabited by civvies. The only thing that could possibly be positive in his presence here was his Ralts and he didn't even know what its sex was, let alone understand it.

"There has been… a change of plans. Flying is no option and I need to know how to proceed," he said with a voice completely devoid of emotion. Even though he was royally annoyed by the recent turn of events he had to keep his head. Anger and frustration only impaired one's capability to reason and if there was one thing he could never ever afford for himself then it was being controlled by emotions.

The professor frowned and seemed thoughtful for a few moments before resuming his normal stance.

"That is most unfortunate. But still; a possibility arises for you and Ralts to train together now."

"I just need to get to the communications dish."

"The road is long and littered with trainers and wild Pokémon."

"I don't need to fight them I just need to get to saffron city- that is the priority."

"Harming Pokémon is by law forbidden."

Damnit. So he couldn't ignore wild pokemon without probably fending them off with a pokemon of his own? And his pokemon could hurt them but he couldn't? What the hell kind of reasoning was that?

Fine. If he had to spend the next weeks on this weird planet then he would abide by its laws- occasionally.

"And to be able to properly defend both yourself and your pokemon you will have to train Ralts. Perhaps you could even visit some gyms seeing as you are trainer."

When did he become a 'trainer' all of a sudden? Come to think about it, this Oak had made some pretty big decisions for him. Yes he wanted to take care of the Ralts for whatever reason and yes he accepted the fact that he would be stranded here for a while, but who was to say that he would integrate himself in this world?

He hadn't even integrated himself properly in the Platernus and he had been with its crew for even longer than a few weeks.

But there he didn't have anyone to take care for and here he did. Didn't he?

"I haven't even captured this Ralts," he objected, "shouldn't a trainer have to carry his Pokemon with him?"

Oak smiled. "If you are to take this road to Saffron city and use the radar dish there, then you will need to train your Ralts. And it is too dangerous to only take one pokemon with you; you will need more."

"More?" The super-soldier frowned and thought about it. He already felt burdened by the one creature that he had to take care of let alone a whole team.

"Wouldn't they only slow me down?" He asked, hoping that he didn't need to take care of an entire group of animals. He wouldn't do that- he had a priority and a duty. He wasn't here to play games with animals; he was here because he crashed during an incident that had killed of hundreds of good people. It wouldn't do to just leave that thought!

Bu he was stuck here. That the UNSC would ever find him was doubtful at best.

Hopeless at worst.

So in the weeks to come, would it be wise to bond with eventual intelligent creatures? Wouldn't it be smart to just prevent any ties in this world and hope for the best?

"_Ralts?"_ His companion said. While he didn't exactly understand its words, he did realize the underlying message.

What about me?

Yes. That was what worried him the most; that he had already partially bonded with an inhabitant of this world. It possessed the intelligence and understanding of a human being. And he had already decided to let it stick around until he would leave so what the hell?

What was the worst thing that could happen if he decided to learn a bit about this world? He had repeated those arguments to himself many times and he had finally decided on what his thoughts were.

Don't bond too much and don't be left in the dark.

AKA: interaction with other life forms? Bad.

Travel a bit around the region? Good.

So he would take Ralts and travel some with it while at the same time sticking around civilized areas until the UNSC would come and pick him up.

"Why would I need more?" He asked the professor- and almost wished he hadn't. Oak spend the next ten minutes explaining the concept of pokemon battles to him, along with the many types and advantages that different species held against each other.

Why the hell certain types beat other ones was completely beyond him. But still, this was a form of warfare and he learned quickly. Frighteningly quickly for someone completely new to the concept of trainer battles, according to the old professor.

Spartans had a tendency to learn extremely quickly about new types of warfare. Seeing as there wasn't a single form that he didn't understand and master, learning a new one was a piece of cake.

"You have mastered concept that have taken even seasoned trainers months to understand!" Professor Oak exclaimed after he was done schooling the Spartan.

Yes he did. What was the problem with that?

The Spartan did find a problem himself though. Every single battle would be thought out and planned by him but he wouldn't do any fighting. He would let other creatures fight each other while he sat back and watched.

'Is this what being an officer is about?' He briefly wondered. If so, he never wanted to become a colonel or a general.

Still, even a simple kind of fighting and planning was fighting nonetheless. He would hone his tactical skills whilst moving, training both his mind and his body during his trip to saffron city. While still not acceptable- for he felt like he had to get in the fight against the covenant ASAP- he could bear it.

"I'll do it…" he said and felt like he had forsaken his own believes as soon as he spoke the words. Never did he have to chance the rules like that and he somehow felt like they had been changed for him.

Oak smiled and presented the Spartan with five red balls. Were these filled with pokemon already? He thought that he would have to capture the creatures after having fought them himself. Why would Oak then proceed to give him the pokemon?

"You will need these to capture any pokemon you encounter. You can buy ones at local poke-markets with money that you win by fighting trainers.

The Spartan raided an eyebrow at that. He would receive money after beating some kid's pokemon? That didn't sound entity right. He had never even used money in his life, how did it even work?

That didn't matter. He would pick that up soon enough.

"And you will need this!" Oak continued, now handing him some sort of red- taccom unit. It was roughly the size of his hand and had one screen in the middle. Underneath the screen was a pair of speakers. Was this some sort of communication device? Probably not strong enough to reach the UNSC or Oak would have given it him long ago. A walkie-talkie for the professor to see if the Spartan made some funny discoveries?

"This is my pokedex!" The professor said proudly. With this you can observe a pokemon for as little as one second before it stores and than displays any information about the specific pokemon you aimed it at!"

Really? That was kind of useful actually.

"What like a digital encyclopedia?" The Spartan responded, beginning to feel the numbing irritation that meant he was getting really tired really fast from all the interaction. He needed to move out and take action instead of being schooled by some old animal-lover.

"Yes. I can spend days explaining the fine mechanics of our world but I think I will let you try it out yourself. Just don't break it and be careful.

"Me?"

"No, the people that you are going to fight. Remember! Let the pokemon do the fighting!"

Yeah yeah he knew. He wasn't a kid to be scolded.

"After I find that dish…" he started, but lacked the will to finish the goodbye-sentence. Instead he gestured at Ralts and said: "let's go. For real this time."

And with that the Spartan turned around and left the laboratory, leaving professor Oak to rub his head.

So he was actually going to do this? Make his way to Saffron city on foot, fending of attacks without killing things? It hardly seemed possible.

He was positive he would hate every second of it.

"Ralts ralts!" His little white Pokemon cheered and happily bounced up and down, displaying its uncanny happiness.

"Speak for yourself…" Math responded and suppressed a sigh. The journey ahead would be a boring, annoying experience.

~0~

"_The situation in Mt moon is getting out of hand ma'am! They won't even allow trainers to get in and they are actually threatening anyone foolish enough to try and leave Pewter city! You have to do something!"_

"_I wish I could Brock, but my hands are tied. We don't have enough forces in town and I want to avoid any bloodshed if at all possible. Remember! There are pokemon in there!"_

"_How come they are so strong? They only have a few men in there and their Pokemon have always been weak."_

"_Calm yourself! Even though my Pokemon are far stronger than theirs, they have somehow gotten their hands on a firearm. What do you want me to do?"_

"_Damn it…"_

Conversation between gym leader Brock and anonymous police officer, Pewter city.

~0~

**And that was chapter five… meh, I am somehow not completely satisfied with this. It was really hard… harder than the previous ones. But the major roadblock is crushed beneath my mighty boot! Our Spartan and his trustworthy little ally are officially on their way out of Pallet town and will head to Saffron city on foot.**

**Speaking of which, does anyone have an idea for a good Team Rocket officer to run the Mount moon operation? **

**Anyway, rate and review and above all: enjoy yourself!**

**Masterwil out.**


	6. Rules of engagement

**To ****Siphon 117:** **I technically never concluded that a pokemon destroyed it, that was your own sub consciousness trying to trick you **** I do take your point about the fact that a Spartan can plough his way through the entire region without trouble though, but what training would there be in it for Ralts? Never mind that, the story would be over awfully quick if he were to do that :O**

**But don't worry; I have many levels and feats of awesome-kickass to work out and not every pokemon will be as lucky as the ones that have to fight Ralts. Oh yes there will be action :)**

**And ****Spartan 262****… that is a crap-load of feedback you gave me there! If you don't mind I will not address everything you said here but don't worry, I take feedback seriously. First of all, thanks for pointing out some mistakes here and there. No excuses for size difference mistakes and faults- but the metric system sucks **

**Our little Spartan was only able to take a few weapons with him- apologies if that wasn't apparent. I do plan to get back on the Crash-site in later chapters, so don't worry about a lack of ordnance. **

…

**Goddamnit Spartan you made me spoil! Eeehm…forget what I just said!**

**In all seriousness, thanks for the feedback man, I really appreciate it. English is not my first language and sometimes phrases just sound way off in my weird way of typing it.**

**Anyway, on to the story!**

~0~

"_For some reason armories all around the region are getting plundered and emptied! Who is responsible for this and why isn't anyone doing something!"_

"_The culprits are extremely well organised- they have been dormant for years now, nobody saw it coming! Nobody can justify that a criminal organisation would just become active again, ma'am!"_

Conversation between unknown police-officer and her superior officer, two days before Slipspace event.

~0~

"Speech" –human speech

"**Speech"** – Pokémon speech

_`Speech`_- Pokémon speech to humans

"SPEECH" pokedex wannabe-speech.

~0~

Ralts: Lvl 9, significant moves: teleport

~0~

Don't go into the tall grass. That's what it said right there, on that sign. It warned him away from the tall grass. Why would it do that?

"Smell anything?" The Spartan asked his short companion. He didn't trust it- there could be mines hidden throughout the grass, or sentries just waiting to pick them off once they entered the grass.

He looked from his left- a thick line of trees- to his right- a thick line of trees. Oak had told him to follow Route 1. And the sign a couple meters back clearly stated that he was 'now entering Route 1'.

Do not into the tall grass… he pulled his assault rifle from his back and carefully swept from left to right, his eyes taking in every detail from ground to sky, tree to tree.

Nothing.

And since his motion-tracker was still dead he had to rely on his senses alone. So far he had seen no indication to gunpowder or other forms of weaponry, but that didn't mean anything. For all he knew, the little village called Pallet town could be a religious cult, worshipping Pokemon or seeing them as holy or something. Even though Oak had seemed perfectly reasonable and he had never lied up to now.

"Stay back!" He told his companion and slowly walked forwards, still expecting to be the target of some sort of airstrike. His amour and shielding would protect him from the possible trap, after which he could retaliate with deadly force.

The grass wasn't even that tall; even though it reached up to Ralts' neck it only covered his boots.

"_Ralts ralts!" _ His companion suddenly yelled and it ran up to join the Spartan- which frowned and came up with some new disciple-building exercises.

He had to prevent it from springing the trap, he could take whatever this world could dish out but the little Pokemon couldn't. He lunged forwards and tried to build as much distance between him and Ralts so that the resulting explosion would only harm him.

But after he had dashed into the grass-covered road for two dozen meters and still nothing happened, he began to grow apprehensive.

They hadn't seen fit to engage him? So what was the warning for. Why would they even warn him if they wanted to ambush them, whoever they were?

Ralts stood in the back, leaning against the sign and obviously laughing at him. It had pressed one hand against its mouth to prevent any stray sounds from betraying its feelings, but the Spartan noticed the slight shaking of the shoulders and the relaxed stance of the legs.

Why was it seeing fit to laugh at him?

The super-soldier walked up to the little thing and looked down at it. It must have been the most intimidating sight for many covenant warriors that faced him in battle, but the Ralts didn't even flinch. It did stop laughing, however and pointed at the sign.

"_Ralts ral ralts!"_ It said. The Spartan frowned at that sudden behaviour and once again checked out his surroundings. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Ralts kept pointing at the sign and he had a feeling that maybe he had overlooked something.

It still said 'Don't go into the tall grass'. So what had he missed?

Frowning he knelt before the piece of wood and swept away the grass that had obscured its bottom halve.

'If you do not posses any pokemon!'

He was silent for about two seconds before mentally reprimanding himself for missing such a cliché clue.

He had a pokemon. And even if he didn't he had lots of ammo and MJOLNIR. Let the wild Pokemon come, there wouldn't be any trouble.

"Lead the way." He said and thus dubbed the white Pokemon 'point man'.

~0~

It didn't take long for Ralts to notice some weird rustling in the bushes and trees around her. They were being watched, she was sure of it! Something was checking them out and it meant them harm. She could feel its emotions and feelings and there was no mistaking it.

"**Something is following us!"** She said to the demon that was walking with her. It didn't respond to her- he never did- but he did keep an eye on their surroundings. At least she hoped he did; his big head never seemed to actually move around. Perhaps it didn't need to see?

A sudden flash of emotions echoed through her mind as she felt whatever was stalking them decide on how to attack. She stopped in her tracks and took a few quick steps back when a monster as large as she was jumped out of the grass, baring its deadly fangs muscles legs. Its flanks rippled with power and she was sure that this creature was the one that had been stalking them for some time! She hoped her demon knew what he was doing and that he was not, NOT planning to let her fight this enemy on her own!

~0~

The purple rat snarled at him, its large white front teeth shining brightly and its eyes radiating malicious intent. Its hackles were raised and its tail was quivering with buildup pressure- but the Spartan could not help but feel underwhelmed by its appearance.

It was also barely a feet long. He had squashed animals that were bigger by simply running over them. It was a good thing he had spotted this one in the grass, he wouldn't want to clean his boots all over again.

An idea rose in his mind as he pulled out his Pokedex. Holding it in front of him like he would a detonator, he pushed a button and the image of the rat appeared.

"RATTATA, THE RAT POKEMON. A RATTATA'S TEETH WILL GRO CONTINOUSLY SO IT GNAWS ON HARD THINGS TO WEAR THEM DOWN. SPECIAL MOVES: TACKLE, BITE AND SANKD ATTACK"

The little words 'saving data' appeared in the upper left corner. It was saving data? Hadn't Oak already programmed it to have everything it had on pokemon?

Weird. So this little rat actually _was_ a rat? Bummer. After the past day he had actually expected to be able to fly. Nevertheless, Ralts needed training if it were to survive the weeks coming after his departure.

"Go ahead." He said and gestured to the rat.

Ralts stared at him and then cocked its head. The Rattata snarled and jumped at the Spartan, completely ignoring the small Pokemon that was standing at the side. With two fingers he could the stupid thing in the air and then tossed it back to the ground.

"Just as I taught you, the basic rules of engagement."

Ralts nodded and tentatively stepped forward. Good, even though it was lacking in courage it still knew what it had to do.

The rat got on its feet again and this time it focused its gaze on the new white intruder.

So wild Pokemon prioritized trained Pokemon instead of trainers? Interesting.

The rat charged at Ralts and bared its teeth.

"Roll to the right!" The Spartan calmly said. A small sense of satisfaction came over him as he saw that Ralts actually managed to roll to the right over its shoulder, like a marine would to dodge incoming projectiles.

During their trip to the Route 1 he had spent at least an hour teaching the Ralts how to dodge both incoming enemies and potentially projectiles. Seeing as there were hostiles somewhere in this region, Ralts should be able to fight for itself even sooner than planned. Instead of training it in the weeks to come after their trip to Saffron city he would have to train it before they even arrived. When the Spartan met the one responsible for the destruction of their craft- and his valuable time- he would let him know that he wasn't too amused by the act.

In his own way, of course.

But now, as Ralts dodged the charging Rattata twice more, he was surprised that the sense of satisfaction didn't disappear within half a second, like other comparable feelings often did.

Perhaps it was because the reason was still prominent? Either way, Ralts couldn't remain on the defense forever. Eventually it would make a mistake and the rat would take it out.

When Ralts dodged the rat a third time, he quickly analyzed the tactical situation that Ralts found itself in and formulated a plan that would allow it to win.

"Now jump on top of it!" he said and watched as Ralts jumped on the Rattata's back. Its physical prowess was no doubt way less than the rat's would be, but with the right movements that didn't matter. "Now place your hands on either side of its neck and find the nearest artery.

He hoped that Ralts would know what an artery was, because if it didn't then the rat would shake it off and he would have to start all over again.

But Ralts did know what the Spartan meant, and soon it pressed its hand against the neck of its enemy. "Good, now pinch the area around the vein and smack the Rattata on its neck with your other hand."

And while his Pokemon performed the required actions, he realized that he would have to talk even more in the coming days. Ralts needed to hear virtually everything it would need to do in a fight and the Spartan wasn't able to keep his throat up to date.

That intrigued him a bit. So he needed training too? Even though it was a little useless thing that he needed to do, it would still be training.

The wild rat squealed as it felt Ralts hand hit its neck and it collapsed to the ground, its senses temporarily stunned by the hit. The Spartan waited for a few seconds to see if it got back up, but the rat only whined softly as it lay there. No matter, Ralts hadn't done it permanent damage so it needed to be thankful. If he had felt like it, he could have let Ralts performed some even more painful moves.

He briefly let his hand glide over the pouch where he kept the poke balls, but thought better about it. He didn't need a whiny little rat on his team.

"Well done Ralts, come on." He walked away from the rat and pointed down the road." We still have a long way to go."

The white Pokémon's victory didn't come as a surprise. As the Spartan continued lecturing it on the principles of rules of engagement, the creature continued listening with a level of attention that many marines could not match. There were still many things he didn't understand about the Ralts- apart from the usual things that he never understood. Hell, he didn't even know if it was a girl or a guy. That could potentially influence their training, so he had to find out sometime.

While he instructed the pokemon to look around for potential cover from enemy fire, he wondered how he would actually find out what race it was. He had been briefly instructed in the key differences between male and female hormone systems during his training, but that more focused on the implications of hormones during combat- like adrenaline.

Come to think of it, he had learned every difference between male and female soldiers merely by observing them. They both acted the same and thought the same, but females looked more…feminine. Males looked more…rough.

That, and females had breasts. That often gave someone away as being female.

But Ralts didn't have breasts, so was it a male?

Not necessarily. Mammals only possessed breasts to feed their young. Ralts wasn't human, not matter how much it looked like one. Adult ones might feed their young by entirely other ways. And Ralts wasn't even an adult, as it was still so small and acted so…childish sometimes. Although that didn't mean much, compared to him even ship-captains acted childish.

So what else set males and females apart if he couldn't tell by biology? A thought came to his mind but he quickly suppressed that one. It was a ridiculous thought, one that he should not even have come to in the first place. Surely that was the case back on his home planet or on Earth, but this place simply housed humans. They couldn't have possibly evolved here and the local wildlife might reproduce entirely different- like with spores, or insects.

He silently cursed the fact that his biology sessions hadn't covered this possibility, what with alien life and all. How would someone that wasn't an egghead find differences between male and female aliens?

There was only one option that was even remotely plausible. Men had maleparts and women had…ladieparts. And while that didn't have to be the case on this planet, he couldn't overlook the possibility

But…that meant that he would have to…check out Ralts' underside and that something he could not bring himself to do. He wasn't a very social person but even he knew that groping someone's reproductive parts was not commonly accepted. So he would just have to bear with calling his companion an 'it' in his mind.

~0~

Half an hour and two more encounters with the Rattata's later, Ralts found herself tilting at the edge of exhaustion. She had fought and defeated a total of three- THREE enemies using only closet combat, as her demon called it. She never understood why it spoke so weird or why it acted like it did. Sometimes she felt that he was driven by the most basic needs and than she felt as if he was the most complicated thing on the world.

To her, he actually was.

But now, as a new opponent showed itself, she felt reluctant to attack. She hated hurting other creatures and she didn't want to fight them like that. It felt wrong; it felt as if she was doing something that went against her entire being.

"Pidg Pidgey!" The wild Pokemon exclaimed when it flew over her head. The demon-human pulled out the weird device that Tree had given to him and she listened to its instruction. She listened to it because the demon had told her that information and knowledge were even more important than techniques and abilities- something which she had a hard time believing. But he was her master in a way now, like the bonds between Trainer and Pokemon. She had to obey him.

"PIDGEY IS A FLYING POKEMON. TOGETHER WITH OTHER FLYING POKEMON, IT IS THE EASIEST AND GENTLEST TO CAPTURE. IS GUST ATTACK CREATES TORNADOES AND IT HAS DISPLAYED THE ABILITY TO KICK UP SAND IN ITS OPPONENTS EYES. SPECIAL MOVES: TACKLE, GUST AND SAND ATTACK"

Tornadoes? Her parents had told her about those things. They were powerful winds that could take your entire home with it. Did she have to fight that? As tired as she was?

"Ralts?" The demon said and pointed at the bird. "Can you think of a way to take it down?"

Did she have to pull it to the ground like he had done with the Fearow? Or was he speaking in riddles again, that he actually meant for her to simply beat the bird?

She didn't want to. Her body felt so tired that she didn't think it possible for her to even swing her arms around- let alone beat a flying pokemon.

The Pidgey crooned and attacked, flying low and fast. The demon said something about dodging it, but she was too slow and the bird slammed into her with power enough to make her cringe.

She fell to the ground and stayed there as the Pidgey flew around, intending to strike again.

She couldn't move; she was too tired. Her body didn't want to- but at the same time she felt her trainer's rockhard confidence. Was it confidence in the situation or in her? She slowly reached out with her mind and touched his, immediately retracting and retreating back to her body. Every time she did that her mind felt even more tired- it was the price of attempting to understand the demon. She still didn't, but she did found out something else.

His confidence was in her. He believed her to be capable enough to do this! She didn't want to disappoint him. No way that she would disappoint him!

Slowly she got to her feet and faced the flying pokemon again. Her body might not be able to keep up, but she had something that the Pidgey didn't. Not only did she posses the confidence of a trainer by her side, but she also had awesome psychic abilities!

But how could she even use them?

"Come on Ralts!" The demon said and crossed his arms. "Use your environment!"

Easier said than done. She needed to sue her psychic abilities to win this fight. If she didn't, who knows what is going to happen to her demon?

A small gasp escaped her lips. Since when did she think about the welfare of her caretaker? She had accepted him as a trainer without intending to, yes. But why did she actually care about him?

He had saved her life. Twice. Even though he did not want to be with her- that much she guessed from his mind- he still walked with her and he still held her company. He had even promised to protect her and stay with her until his people could come and get him. They had some time together and he had already spend some of it trying to get her in a fighting shape- he wanted to give her a chance to live her life without fear. He wanted her to be able to protect herself.

But what was inside of his mind? Was he actually a demon, large and armoured, impossibly fast and still…what? There was something else there, something that was blocked by his most forefront decisions and desires. His single-minded focus on his goal was a forefront to something else…but what?

She realised that even so young as she was, she was able to feel the emotions and feelings of everything around her. Except for the demon- he had been impossible to read and that had caused her to see him as a what she thought he was.

But now, as she was getting better at sensing what he thought and wanted, she realised that she was stripping away that which she reasoned had made him a demon.

So he was a human? Perhaps mostly demon but part human? Yes, that had to be it.

The Pidgey flew at her again, fully intending to gore her with his claws like the Fearow had.

She was scared and hurt, both her mind and body were under great stress. All these new sensations and thoughts were pressing on her mind like a heavy carpet and she needed to get the pressure off. She needed to do something or her mind would collapse!

She moved one arm at the Pidgey and concentrated on nothing else but her enemy and- seeing him in the corner of her eye- her trainer.

A light-green light flared around both her and the Pidgey simultaneously. The sensation of her psychic abilities was tremendously relieving for her. The large amounts of information that she had to digest seemed little and unimportant compared to her victory.

In that little moment of inspiration she had found, her abilities manifested themselves as the flare of light completely enveloped the attacking bird. She gestured with her other hand- waving downwards- and the Pidgey was slammed into the ground with considerable force.

When the bird didn't move and she realised that she had won, she released the flow of mental energy that linked her with the flying pokemon and was immediately overwhelmed by both her physical and psychic status. Her legs buckled and she was about to fall over when all of a sudden strong hands wrapped around her petite body. Darkness threatened to envelop her as she struggled to lift her head.

"Stay with me!" The powerful voice of the demon said. It displayed zero emotions and yet…

And yet…on some level she understood that it had to care about her. In his own, weird ways of course.

Feeling glad and reassured that everything was fine, Ralts knew that she could safely lose her consciousness to this world and let her mind and body rest. The trainer would take care of her- there was no doubt about that.

A faint smiled played across her lips as she felt one of the demon's fingers brush over her tummy. She wasn't even surprised that such powerful hands could caress her with such softness. He was completely control in everything that he was aware of and that filled her with a weird urge to do better. She now understood why he was so pressed on her training and why he wanted her to fight these pokemon.

She wanted to become better. She wanted to make him proud and then…

Perhaps then… he would stay.

~0~

The moment he saw Ralts envelop in that strange green light he knew that it had displayed its weird psychic abilities again. The Ralts was arousing his curiosity: first it had managed to slow down its own momentum when falling, then it had actually teleported and now it had somehow managed to use its powers on its enemy. The Pidgey had been completely knocked out by the sudden flare of psychic abilities. It occurred to him that the Ralts could have used an alternate version of its levitating ability; it had first cancelled out its own momentum and now the Pidgey's. It was weird how simply creatures could completely modify their environment to such a degree that they even interfered with the laws of physics.

The thought that Nature's laws were so easily bended by these creatures actually decreased his hopes that the UNSC would reach him in time to be of any use against the Covenant. For now he had to move quickly.

Ralts stood there for a few seconds more, but then the Spartan saw it starting to shake and he immediately recognised the movement; it meant that his companion was about to faint. Quick like a snake he strode forward and caught the Ralts with his hands before it could hit the ground.

"Stay with me!" He said as he gently lifted the Pokemon off the ground. He didn't know anything about Pokémon's biology; perhaps he had pushed the little Ralts too far?

No, probably not. The abilities had already been dormant in its mind; he had only provided the nudge it needed to unlock them.

Nevertheless his Pokemon was exhausted. Maybe he needed to get it to some sort of… animal hospital? If these people really though that Pokemon were so great then surely they would have provided every town with some sort of check-up centre or something?

The road to Viridian city was still long and many other Pidgey's and Rattata's attacked him, but they were unable to even touch him. He didn't even need to kill them to neutralize them, only a small kick there or a finger in the air there. One time a Pidgey was aiming at the unconscious creature in his hands and he had promptly stuck up his hand- letting the bird fly into the cold steel gauntlet at full speed.

As the Pidgey fell to the ground- dazed for a few hours at the least- he noticed voices in the distance. Had he reached the city already? Great, just what he needed. More nosy people and more conversations which he had to avoid.

Planning ahead for himself he decided that he would ignore everyone he met in the city until he found an official looking building. There he would infiltrate the rooms until he determined who was in charge and he would bust in, clear the room of potential hostiles and interrogate the target. Which would most likely be a harmless civvie.

Okay, new plan. He would infiltrate the rooms until he determined who was in charge and than he would bust in, clear the room of potential hostiles using the least amount of force needed to incapacitate them and then ask the person where he could find the nearest Pokemon health and care Centrum. If that even existed.

The closer he got to the so called Viridian city and a good strategy on how to infiltrate it, the clearer the noise got. He could make out eight distinct voices. One female and the rest males.

The Spartan frowned. He had never been able to tell what people felt just by listening to their voices. Some people could and he had once met a psychiatrist that could. But he…

He had once- about eight years ago on a funeral of his commanding officer- concluded that the Sergeant that had given the motivational speech did not like the officer very much. Merely because the sergeant had not sounded sad or down, but hopeful and inspiring. And what person should be hopeful during someone's funeral but a person that was not saddened by the death? And if someone was not sad because of someone else's death than the person in question had to dislike the other.  
Of course he had kept his musings to himself. That had proven to be a right insight, because later that week he had realized that he didn't even understand what sad people should sound like. He didn't understand much about emotions at all and he'd like to keep it that way.

So when he determined that the people shouting up ahead sounded excited, he didn't trust the conclusion very much. Still, he held the unconscious Pokemon carefully protected in his hands and proceeded with utmost caution. Moving by the side of the road with uncanny speed and stealth he stopped when the people sounded like they were close enough for him to see them- which he didn't. He looked around and realized that he had arrived at a small intersection. He could either continue forwards and enter the city- in broad daylight- or he could go to his left, where he suspected that he voices came from.

The city was bound to be filled with people and the Spartan didn't deem it possible to sneak past everyone in daylight without spending some more time- and he would rather wait the situation out than risk getting seen. So he decided to go to the left, towards the voices. There were probably less people there and maybe he could investigate. If something interesting had happened, he needed to know. It wasn't as if they would actually get to know that he was there. And he grasped every chance that allowed him to avoid interaction. Besides; the voices had become so clear that he could almost deduce what the woman was saying.

Saying or screaming, what's the difference?

After having snuck his way a few dozen meters further he actually encountered the people. They were all wearing heavy leather jackets with all kinds of unfriendly insignias and one of them- a bald male with a built that could equal a brute with a growing disorder- had cutoff sleeves by his shoulder.

They looked like a bad example from an old biker-gang movie that he had once seen. The moral of the movie- according to his trainers- had been to never overestimate yourself. He briefly wondered how that message would play out here, when he noticed the woman.

Unlike the males that surrounded her, she looked like a nurse; her head was adorned with long, pink hair and she wore a pink-white dress that ended at her knees. Her shoes were also pink whereas her panties were completely white. Or should have been white, because they weren't right now.

At that moment they were torn and covered with dust and mud. Her dress was torn open at one shoulder, revealing a white bra. The remains of a nurse-hat lay scattered across the ground and she was lying on her back. Tears ran down her face as she screamed for the men to stop, as she screamed for mercy.

Judging by the fact that her clothes were dirty and torn and that the three males that had cornered her against a rock did not look nice, the Spartan concluded that she was not happy. And seeing as she was crying without a possibility of them being tears of joy, she had to be crying because these men had attacked her.

Or simply found her after she had fallen down, but judging by the position of her body compared to the rock and the three thugs that were laughing at her, that wasn't very likely.

"So nice to find you out here!" The bald bastard said with a grin as he fumbled with his large metal belt. "It's almost like you wanted us to find you!"

"Please… the woman whispered with her head hanging low, "please d-don't do t-this!" the repositioning of her head had revealed a nasty bruise on her cheek and he could spot a cut on her bare shoulder.

The two males flanking the bald one weren't as muscled as he was but they compensated for this by having insanely stupid black hair on their heads. They laughed at the woman's misery as well. The rest of them were holding bats and chains and other forms of weapons.

The Spartan noticed seven bikes standing a few dozen meters back and figured out the rest.

These men had chased the nurse and cornered her at the rock. When they caught her they had beaten her and thrown her to the ground before getting ready to rape her. The bald asshole had almost undone his belt and it didn't look like anyone was even looking for the woman.

He really should get moving and get to Saffron city, but he was a Spartan. He was specifically trained as a protector of mankind- to protect humanity against all threats. And seeing as she looked like an innocent civilian and these three looked like scum, it was his duty to act.

His duty wasn't to the people of earth only but to every single human out there. Even the weird humans on this planet.

With the unconscious Ralts still in his hands he stepped out of his hiding place and casually walked over to the three bikers closest to him. They were so focused on fulfilling their basic animal needs that they didn't even notice him until he was right behind them. If he wanted to he could shoot them all in the head and move on. But after having fought for humanity's side for most of his live, he didn't want to ruin her life by causing her a life-long trauma. If he were to cut down her assailers then he would most likely cause the ground to redden and at least one of their bodies to fall on her.

Civilians were very privy to getting mentally broken from these stupid reasons and he was sure that this woman was equally susceptible to emotional breakdowns.

So he would give these people a chance- one chance to immediately get the hell out of the town, the country and human civilization.

It was only when he was standing right beside the thugs that one of them noticed him.

"Damn!" One guy said, his gravity-defying hair reflecting the sunlight as he turned to face the Spartan. "Who the hell are you! Get the fuck out of here man!"

His shouting caught the attention of the other thugs and they turned to face him- ever so slowly. When all the pigs were looking at him he reached out and grabbed the bald guy by his throat, gently holding Ralts in his free hand while slowly crushing the life out of his prey.

"Leave. Now." He said, not putting too much pressure on the bald bastard when he spoke. He wanted them give the woman a chance to recover from her ordeal. Their final acts shouldn't be causing an innocent civilian emotional damage simply by dying. He would not allow that, even though it was so much easier to just kill them and be done with it. The urge to crush the would-be-rapist was so strong.

But instead of doing the smart thing and living, the two men flanking him both decided to attack him- just as the rest of their little gang did. One of them pulled out a stupid little knife and the other one pulled out a .44 magnum revolver. Two others quickly grabbed a shotgun off the ground- but started arguing over which one of them would get to use it.

Gunpowder at last!

He was kind of glad that these three fell within his social circle: He did not have to obey them, he did not need to protect them and he did have to neutralize them.

He increased his grip on the bald guy- crushing his throat and neck within half a second- before throwing the limp body to the side and moving out of range himself.

He could not afford to dance around dodging blades and bullets when the woman was lying in the middle of their crossfire. Neither would he allow ANY harm to come to Ralts- whose life he still valued more than that of the woman for some reason.

He threw Ralts in the air and moved in for the kill. His right hand lashed out and delivered an uppercut to the man with the magnum, breaking his neck instantly and sending his body flying. He immediately shifted his hind leg and assumed a lower stance, before leaning to his left and delivering a powerful elbow-blow to the guy with the- probably still larger than his dick- silly little knife. The armored elbow smashed right underneath his ribcage and completely shattered it, sending shards of bone into the man's internal organs. He too flew back several meters.

As both his Ralts and the two men he had dispatched off flew through the air, the other thugs finally realized that they were actually getting attacked. But it was too late, far too late as the Spartan tore through their ranks with terrifying speed and strength. He leaned backwards to avoid a very slow bat-swing and retaliated by jabbing at the attackers arm- which cracked- and following up with a quick jab to the sleep.

He wanted to prevent the hostiles from firing their weapons; as Ralts was still sleeping and it needed its rest. He lunged forward and tore a handgun from the hand of the wielder- breaking three fingers and nearly tearing off a fourth. Before the man could even scream he sidestepped, placed his shoulder next to his target's and swung his arm upwards. He caught the man's chin in his armored armpit and with his other hand he snapped the biker's neck.

By that time the first two bodies had hit the floor.

He pulled out his combat knife- a long, curved blade made out of stainless steel- and pivoted to his right, plunging the blade into the nearest man's skull. He wrenched the shotgun from dead fingers and snapped it in half; a thick cloud of powder burst outwards and obscured the face of a man who had pitifully tried to sneak up on the Spartan. As he grabbed the guy's head and bend it 90 degrees sideways, snapping his neck vertebra and exposing them to air, he noticed the last guy dropping his chain and turning to run away, screaming in fear.

That asshole was going to wake up Ralts if he didn't watch it!

With his right hand he reached up in the air and caught his Pokemon just as it fell down again, making sure he didn't stop its momentum too soon. His other hand reached to the ground in his movement and he scooped up his combat knife. He turned once more and threw the knife-which was balanced for throwing- at the cowering 'biker'. The blade sunk five inches into his spine and he toppled.

His timing and movement had been flawless; Ralts was still asleep and the bikers were all dead- safe for the last guy with the knife in his back, whom the Spartan had only paralyzed from the waist down because of his need for information.

Roughly three seconds had passed between his first kill and his last.

He was getting sloppy. His moods made heavy sounds as they thundered across the plain, carrying him towards the fallen biker.

"Who are you!" The Spartan barked at him, softly spinning the knife in the guy's back.

"P-please! He responded with a garbled voice. "Don't kill me! We had orders to kidnap the local nurse… we never meant harm!"

The Spartan thought about the desperate cries of the woman and her ravaged clothes and about the many weapons that they had carried.

"Who are they!" He snapped and tore out his knife from the man's prone form.

"I don't know! You killed the boss you monster! Only he knew- gack!"

He spoke no more as the Spartan slit his throat. He knew enough and this guy couldn't tell him anymore details. He would have to find out for himself.

As he walked over to her, he looked down at the shocked woman and was annoyed to see that one of the thugs had actually bled a little bit on her during the engagement.

Sloppier than normal. "Are you all right miss?" He asked her. If only he could realize what a sight he was to the wounded lady: a seven feet tall, heavily armored white warrior with a big visor where his face was supposed to be- having just dispatched seven would-be rapists with his bare hands and a knife, whilst covering the ground and himself in gore.

She stuttered and stared at him, her eyes as big as dishes and her skin becoming very pale.

Crap, she was going into shock. His combat reflexes kicked in and he crouched down beside her. Having received extensive medical training from many great field-medics, he knew exactly what he should do here. He wasn't about to let a soldier- civilian- die on his watch

There were two primary causes of shock- one for blood loss and one that occurred with pain or immense stress. The first one was caused by extreme bleeding, burn wounds, stomach-wounds or long-term fluid losses. The second one- the one that was the case with this woman- was primarily caused by pain or an excess stimulation of the nerves.

He suspected that would be the death of him one day: being introduced as a Spartan to the mass media and getting bombed with questions and 'thank-you's'.  
He was already pushing it close with this new world and complete new species of Pokemon.

He grabbed her legs and pushed them up- but stopped immediately when Ralts jumped in-between them.

"_Ralts Ralts! _It 'yelled' at him with a very weak voice. The Spartan couldn't give it attention when he was attempting to save this woman's life, so he gestured it off and once again grabbed the nurse's legs.

Ralts jumped at his arm and clung to his wrist like a child seeking attention.

"What is it?" He asked. The Pokemon gestured at him, then at one of the thugs lying dead on the floor and then back at the woman again.

"What?" he asked, feeling slightly puzzled by its behaviour.

The Ralts let its head hang for a second before it jumped back up and started squealing again; _"Ral ra Ralts! Alts ralts ral!"_

What was it doing? Didn't it see that he needed to help this woman, that he needed to protect her from dying?

Ralts pointed at the Spartan again- then back at the woman. Then it pointed at the thug that had unbuckled his belt- and back at the woman. Back at him- back at the would-be-rapist.

A slow feeling of understanding began to dawn on him as he looked from the bald asshole to the woman- who had begun to hyperventilate and produce cold sweat.

Ralts though that he wanted to rape the woman? It should know better than that!

"I won't hurt her. Now get away and let me do my work!" He said, this time speaking a little bit harder than he had intended to. The Ralts didn't seem put off by his behaviour though- on the contrary, it seemed even more intend to stop the Spartan from saving the woman.

Why?

But when the Ralts began pointing at the woman's side and back at him, it began to dawn on him.

The Ralts wanted him to sit at the nurse's side while he worked? Fine, if that caused it to shut up.

He sat down at the woman's side and grabbed her legs once again. He didn't need to remove any tight-fitting clothing to allow her blood to circulate freely; the thugs had already done that.

The next part would be the hardest to do for him. He needed to reassure the lady and tell her that it was all going to be ok. She needed to believe that she was going to turn up healthy and safe.

"Ralts!" he said as he nodded at his Pokemon. "Hold her head – make sure she feels all right!"

It nodded- apparently satisfied with his actions. The Spartan turned his head to the pale woman and mentally steeled himself.

"Miss!" He said and tried to not make his voice sound like he wanted to rip her spine out- which he did not. "You are going into shock and-"

Wait, she needed to feel alright. He couldn't tell her that she would do if she didn't concentrate.

"-and you will be fine if you will let me help you."

If the woman's heartbeat were to stop then he would have to give her mouth-to-mouth. And with 'he', the Spartan actually meant 'it' because there was no way in hell that he was going to take his helmet off in hostile territory- Ralts would have to do it.

He gently took the woman's hand and silently cursed himself for doing so. He hated the body contact even though there was at least one inch of MJOLNIR armor and 100% shielding between him and her. But still, he had long ago learned to set his own feelings and frustrations aside for the greater good- and right now he had a duty to fulfil.

Thankfully the woman soon stopped hyperventilating. Her breathing slowed down and the cold sweat had nearly disappeared. Her skin slowly got its colour back and within two minutes after that, she moaned and got back up. He rose and she instantly backed a few meters away- clearly terrified of him and the situation. But then Ralts came wobbling between the Spartan's legs and- for some completely whacko reason that he didn't understand- the woman seemed to relax when she saw him and Ralts together.

"W-who are y-you?" She said with a trembling voice. "D-did you kill t-them? A-all of them?"

~0~

The Spartan did not hear it, but Ralts did. There were a great many feelings and emotions emanating from the nurse- not all of them were kind towards the Spartan. She could feel gratitude, confusion, hurt and disbelieve. The disbelieve was serious in this case- as she could not comprehend the demon's appearance. Silly human.

But for some reason there was also anger in her mixture of emotions- anger at her trainer. At some level she could understand why. Her demon has got to be the most thick-skulled creature in the world!

The woman had just barely been saved from being sexually assaulted. He had showed up, showered the area in blood (she had tried to completely block out the emotions of the seven males that had been attacking the female) and then proceeded to sit at the feet of the woman where he could see beneath her clothes and then even lifted her legs up!

She couldn't believe it when she saw that. But when he had made no effort to actually worsen the situation, she had realised that he was trying to help.

She had also realised that she had still been sleeping.

For some weird reason that she could not understand yet, everything that had happened to them had been shown to her in some sort of vision. She knew it was a vision because her mother often had them and told she had told her that she would have them too.

So she had to show the demon how not to scare the lady to death- which had been very hard to do seeing as they had a little bit of a communication problem. But in the end she had done what the demon had told her like a good little tired Pokemon and the human had woken up from her weird panic-state.

But now, as the two communicated, she started to feel some weird feeling in her tummy. It was negative, that she could tell, but she didn't even understand what was wrong. Her mother had been so wise; she would have known what was wrong.

"Call me Spartan. I am not from around. Who are you?" The demon spoke in short, brusque sentences. Ralts softly sighed as she recognised that voice. Her stupid trainer would scare the woman away if he continued snarling at her like that! She could feel the human's feelings and even though she was trying to be brave, she was actually very scared.

The two stopped speaking immediately after her sigh and she briefly wondered what was wrong. She looked at them and saw that they were both staring at her; the woman with a puzzled yet amused expression and the demon with his weird face…thing.

But then she realised that her sigh had been rather loud. They heard her! She brought her hands to her head in embarrassment- she hadn't meant to sound so disapproving!

~0~

The woman kept het gaze on the Ralts as she softly replied, a weak but steady form of discipline evident in her posture. "I am Nurse Joy…I work at the nearby Pokemon Centre."

A nurse? A pokemon Centrum? They actually had a hospital for pokemon? That was positive; now he could have them examine the Ralts and they would be off.

"Let's move-" He started to say but as soon as he spoke the woman's eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fainted. He gently caught her as she fell and frowned. Now he would have to walk into the city all covered in blood with an unconscious, nearly ravaged woman in his arms. The decision to save her hadn't been the most stress-preventing decision he had ever made. He had gladly sacrificed his own comforts and feelings in the past but this was by far harder than ignoring bodily harm.

Damnit!

And as if that wasn't enough, the little Ralts decided that it hadn't had enough sleep already and promptly fainted itself. With the Nurse still in his arms he reared to the side and scooped the little Pokemon from the ground. He placed it on top of Nurse Joy and with a grim mood set towards the village- leaving seven bodies behind in a trail of blood.

~0~

"_It is as I warned you! He will never be able to function if this doesn't change now!"_

"_Lady this kid is making excellent progress. He will soon be scheduled for the augmentation progress and then we will proceed even further with the plan!"_

"_Even though you don't place him in a team he will only corrupt himself as he tries to make sense of a world he doesn't understand. You need to change something in your "plans"!"_

"_We will continue tomorrow miss! You are dismissed!"_

Conversation between Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield and drill sergeant Mcgonnary- 17 March 2543

~0~

**Chapter six! I found myself having a free day today and I realised that I could spend it either gaming and studying, writing and gaming or writing and studying. Suffice to say that I do not feel guilty for advancing so quickly with the chapter. Unless this one proves to be crap then I shall…review my schedule.**

**I already have many awesome details and twists in mind so remember…. Ahem let's do this probably.**

**Hail readers and take heed. This is the writer, Masterwil. Things that might anger you might not be what they seem!**

**Tata!**


	7. A bloody hero

**Damnit even though I've tried so hard, they still found some spelling mistakes **

**Nah just kidding, thanks for pointing them out- every chance for improving is a chance I want to take. **

**Spartan 262****: Once again I found myself with a large amount of feedback and being unable to completely respond to everything that was said. So a few things before moving on: your reviews are always very welcome and completely spot-on, our Spartan didn't draw his conclusions on the gender yet and yes, many of the errors you found and the probable suggestions you came up with are correct **

**Both ****Siphon 117**** and t****hestaradder ****just wait until the actual firefights begin :D**

**I decided that- in order for everyone's favorite Super-soldier to actually kick ass- I will slightly base the Wild pokemon and trainer Pokemon on the Shadow pokemon from Colosseum and XD. For those of you that are not familiar with those titles: they are GameCube games where it is considered canon that Pokemon can and will attack a human if ordered so.**

**So the attacking Wild pokemon actually WANT to attack and even kill humans that they encounter. This can be the actual reason that a human without a pokemon cannot enter…the tall grass…**

~0~

"_An unknown craft entered our space only a day ago…I don't know who it is but our scouts do no recognize the design. Find out who our mystery guest is but keep yourself hidden. I don't want any surprises operative!"_

"_Yes sir."_

Conversation between unknown Rocket member and Operative S.

~0~

Ralts- lvl 11- significant moves: teleport, growl and confusion.

~0~

According to the position of the sun, it was probably somewhere around two 'o clock. The village of Viridian city was a small community- only a dozen or so small houses and a handful of buildings of which he could not determine the exact function. One of them had a big sign on it saying 'Pokemon Center´ and if he was correct that was where Miss Joy had said that she worked. So the idea was to get to the pokemon center unnoticed and dump her there. After that he would see to it that both she and Ralts would receive medical attention- and that was where he hit his first snag.

How would he explain the fact that he was carrying a missing woman is his arms that looked like she had just been mauled by a bear? And even if the civilians believed that he had saved her, his presence would be known and he would have to start explaining.

Not that he would, but that would only make his visit to the little town that more difficult.

But his luck had never been that great. Not only was the town surrounded by lots of open spaces and terrain- it was also having some sort of a market day. The streets were littered with people and stalls and the Spartan had no doubts about what would happen if he were to simply walk in.

Nevertheless he couldn't waste time by fooling around trying to avoid people. He simply pushed every feeling of discomfort away like he had done a million times before and walked towards the small collection of houses. It didn't take long for him to get noticed and soon all the chattering voices and conversations ceased. Everyone craned their necks to see what was going on and who the stranger was that was entering the village.

A few woman screamed and children started crying- but whether that was because of his appearance or the sudden change in the environment was beyond him.

Then the people started yelling: some of them wanted to know what he was and why he was carrying one of their own in his blood-soaked arms. Others wanted to know who it was that he was carrying and what had happened. Thankfully they all kept their distance- probably because of his nice looks- and a few of the cleverer townsfolk started clearing the area, allowing him unopposed entrance to the pokemon center- unopposed being held in the largest exclamation marks possible. He kept his head high and he kept a close eye on everything that he walked by. People still managed to get in his way, but those that didn't scramble away quickly enough he simply knocked aside by simply walking into them. He was carrying both the Nurse and the Ralts in his arms and even though they didn't weight anything to him, he was still burdened by them as he could not use his arms like he wanted to.

After what felt like minutes walking down a court-martial hallway he finally reached the doors to the pokemon center. He intended to simply kick the door in and enter through the hole that was left- but to his surprise and slight satisfaction the doors slid apart sideways, allowing him to enter with little difficult, as they were broad enough for three marines to enter side-by-side.

If only they were high enough for him to enter without having to lower his stance, that would be great.

The interior of the Pokemon Center felt easier for him to keep tabs on than the marketplace did. For starters there were only half a dozen people in it and they were all preoccupied with their own petty troubles.

That is to say, preoccupied for two seconds before noticing the Spartan entering the hospital. After that the whole circus-act of human curiosity started all over again. Even though there were many curious things for him to behold, he had to focus on getting the medical-personnel to come to his aid.

"My god!" One of the trainers yelled and pointed at him. "It's Nurse Joy!"

They knew her? Good, they would be more likely to help her now.

"Quiet, quiet, everyone be silent! The situation is under control!" A female voice yelled with an air of command. The Spartan immediately identified the woman as a police officer; complete with outfit and walkie-talkie on her belt.

And a gun. Amusing.

Recognizing her as a potential threat he kept a close eye on her as he walked towards the counter- but his attention had to shift from the officer to the woman that sat at the counter, because she looked completely identical to the one that he held in his arms. The only difference was their clothing- the one in his arms was supposed to be a nurse and the one at the desk looked like a secretary. But the rest- body-size, facial details and hair- were the same.

Perhaps sisters? The Spartan noted the possibility for future references and didn't give the odd look-a-like another thought.

"Get a medic!" He told the lady as nonthreatening as he could. He probably still sounded like a raging Brute because she grew pale and took a few seconds to respond. But when she did, she sounded like she was confident in the situation. Or her skills. Or both- the tone in her voice was hard to interpret and her facial expression was…vague at best.

"Yes! Right away!" She nodded and gestured towards one of the Pokemon to come over. It looked like a big pink balloon with gills growing out of its ears- it was shorter than he was and it lacked a neck to speak of.

It possessed a pouch in which a single egg lay- prove that this Pokemon was definitely a female.

Unless it was a seahorse in which case it would be a male.

"Chansey chance!" It responded with a voice that sounded feminine enough. She reached out towards the Spartan without any form of fear- at least any obvious signs that he could notice- and gestured for him to dump the nurse in her arms.

It mattered little to him with whom he would dump the lady and he complied, taking care not to give the Ralts to the weird balloon as well. The pokemon followed the secretary-nurse woman into one of the adjacent rooms and then they shut the door. The Spartan looked around and tried to spot a place where he could get some Intel on the status of his own Pokemon, when he noticed the police-officer cross her arms. Her eyebrows lowered at the center and the corners of her mouth hardened. The woman had a severe case of negative-feelings and the Spartan turned to face her, knowing with absolute certainty shad she would demand answers.

"Who are you?" She snapped, keeping her hand on her holster. She sounded like she thought that her authority was absolute. He would be happy to prove her wrong.

"Just a by-passer." He responded to her, keeping his voice as neutral as he could. If she was taken aback by his voice she did not show it.

"And what is your role in all of this?" She continued to interrogate him, gesturing to the interior of the Pokemon center. All the trainers had averted their eyes and kept their gaze strictly to the ground- something that did not escape the Spartan's eyes.

"I saved her."

"But what happened!" The officer repeated. "How did you find her and why is she hurt?"

Multiple answers? Very well. "She was assaulted by bikers when I was passing through the area."

Her eyes went wide and she gasped, her hand leaving the holster of her gun and dangling uselessly at her side. "Bikers!" She whispered. "But…but who are you then? Who are you to save our Nurse Joy from a biker gang, if what you say is true!"

"I'm not from around here. Skip the conversation, my companion needs aid." He gestured at the Ralts that was curled up against his armpit.

The officer frowned and opened her mouth; perhaps wanting to say something or reprimand him for cutting her off. But she probably thought better of it and closed it again. Then she actually responded. "I am no doctor… but Miss Joy can probably help you further. Just take the next door there-" She pointed at the hallway where the two women and the Pokemon had disappeared to- "and knock on the door. I am sure that she would want to help you…" She looked down at the floor and a tear fell from her right eye.

"I have no idea who you are or even what you are… but if you truly saved the Nurse Joy of this pokemon center…then you have my gratitude." She extended her hand and she looked up- only to find that the armored figure had already left and was nowhere to be seen.

"Wha-" She exclaimed and looked around, hoping that perhaps he had gone to help someone else. It proved to be false hope and her sadness gave way for anger. She was a state police officer for god's sake! A descendent of the Jenny line, no-one would treat her like that!

She thought about going after the stranger in his blood-soaked armor and then thought better of it. She would let him off with a…nonverbal warning. Yes, that would work. Besides if he proved to be untrustworthy or even worse, hostile, than she would simply shoot him and be done with it. Because…he couldn't be bulletproof, right?

~0~

Weird woman. First she snapped at him and demanded that he'd talk to her- and then suddenly she gave him the information he needed? It had to be some sort of trap. So the moment that she averted her gaze on him he had buggered out. He had more important things to do anyway- not waste his time walking to some civilian he barely knew. Not that he would talk to her even if he did know her for years but still.

He was still holding the unconscious Ralts in his hands when he found the door that the officer had pointed him to. He knocked two times and then entered. He saw the two Joy's in there- one sitting and the other one lying in a bed.

"Oh hello there…" The sitting one said. She looked a bit…unsure of herself now.

"Might I ask…whose…" She pointed at him and visibly swallowed. "Whose…is that?"

The Spartan looked at his sleeping Pokemon and shrugged. "Mine I guess."

The secretary gasped in surprise- but quickly changed her expression from surprised to frowning. "How… your armor doesn't seem…broken?"

Why would his armor be broken in order for Ralts to be his? Stupid woman.

"It's from the bikers…" The Joy lying in the bed softly spoke. "He killed them while saving me…"

The other Joy's frown worsened. Even the Spartan could see that she was angry.

"You did what! You killed them!" She yelled at him, clearly not amused by his deed. That puzzled him- they were about to rape her sister. Why shouldn't he have murdered them?"

"They had weapons. She was on the ground. Seems pretty clear to me." He responded and took a step forward- the two ladies instantly cringed. Whatever. "I just need you to take a look at Ralts, is it healthy?"

The nurse's expression of anger disappeared as quickly as it had come as she looked over the white Pokemon. "How come YOU have a Ralts… that doesn't make sense at all. Did you steal it?"

Sure. Like he would waste time trying to steal some animal. "No."

"What did you do to it… it looks completely exhausted?"

Of course it was exhausted, it had been training extensively that day. The more time the Spartan spent in this Pokemon Centre the more frustrated he got with its inhabitants. Didn't they know that he had a very important mission to complete? The only reason that he stopped in this town at all was because he needed someone to get Ralts back in a working shape.

"Just fix it up, we'll leave ASAP." For some reason he felt like he spoke Japanese and the nurse was a Covenant grunt- all she did was squeal and they didn't understand each other. At last he managed to extract some valuable information out of the nurse.

"Your Ralts is over exhausted. It just needs to rest for the rest of the day and then you can continue…doing whatever it is that you are doing here. Just be warned- even though our Jenny's are wide-spread, they still know how to sue a gun. Don't go around causing trouble now, okay?"

Was she threatening him? And what was a Jenny? Some sort of slang, he guessed. Officers or soldiers perhaps? He hoped it was the latter. Military men could understand him better than some stupid civvie.

So Ralts needed some rest? But it had been resting for a long while now. Maybe it needed food or water. Perhaps a combination of both? Seeing as he had used his armour to bludgeon monsters to death before he ever met the Pokemon, his armour couldn't be a very nice thing to sleep on. If he would let Ralts rest for the day then maybe they could leave at night, so nobody would bother him.

"Miss…is there anywhere Ralts can rest?" He asked the woman. He never knew what he might say that would piss somebody off. Back in the UNSC that didn't matter because A: he never spoke to anyone and B: the very few people that he did speak to always had him talk about military strategies and tactics.

Joy still seemed mad at him for whatever reason, but for now she also seemed content with simply supplying him with Intel.

"There is an unused room upstairs…second story room 13. Just talk to someone if you need something…" And with that she resumed taking care of the Joy in the bed. The Spartan just turned around and had reached for the door when he heard the weak voice of the wounded nurse.

"Thanks for saving me soldier…"

So they had noticed that he was a soldier? He wasn't wearing guns or anything to give it away. He didn't need her thanks- he had stumbled across a bunch of people trying to rape an innocent female and he had acted. Anyone should have done so- anyone would have done so.

"Just doing my duty ma'am…" He responded before closing the door behind him.

~0~

She was drifting in an alternate existence…alternating between livid dreams and weird flashes and images. She didn't know where she was but she felt scared- so scared. Her surroundings shifted so quickly that she couldn't focus on them. She wasn't in control and it frightened her. Livid images appeared before her eyes- the Pidgey the had defeated using her Confusion attack, the various Rattata's she had to fight in close combat and bordering at the edge of all that, she saw the demon standing tall and mighty- his white armor shining bright and his visor reflecting her unsure gaze right back at her.

She saw the weird iron-bird that the demon was so anxious about as it was before she had seen it- big, strong and able to do things that she could never dream of. It must have amazing to witness it with her own eyes- had she been able to. Suddenly, a weird droning noise drowned out all the other sensations and she saw the sky fill with floating monsters. Their one eye shone brightly and every single one attacked the demon's iron-bird, blasting at it with white-hot beams of death until they had destroyed it. Their work possessed a deadly precision and that too frightened her.

Suddenly, the images disappeared and her head began to ache. Everything became sharper and clearer and she was sure that she had woken up, that she had managed to reach her own world. But why was everything so dark? Why couldn't she see? Her own hands were visible- they looked vague and different. Everything felt so real…but she knew that it couldn't be true.

And that was when she saw the human. It was standing a few meters in front of her, standing as tall and proud as her demon did. It was wearing strange black clothing and it had its back turned to her- she couldn't make out the human's features.

A loud growl thundered across the room she found herself in and the ground began to shake. The human turned its head from left to right in an attempt to spot what was going on.

Her vision blurred and titled as she fell to her knees. She tried to clear het eyes, to see what was going on. Her gaze fixed on the human and suddenly she couldn't avert her eyes anymore. It was as if her body had frozen- she couldn't control it anymore.

She felt the air around her shimmer and waver as many figures rushed from the trees. Their growls and stampeding feet blocked out all the other sound and she could feel their burning hate, their desire to maul and kill.

Not one of the creatures did as much as touch her and they all charged at the lone human. It spun around and both he and the savage wild pokemon that were attacking him blurred out. Her headache intensified and she struggled to concentrate. She felt as if this was important. It was the most important thing that had happened to her- and she wasn't even sure that it was happening at all. All she knew was that she had to focus right now

Slowly the blurry air dissipated and she was able to see what had happened. Her mouth slowly opened and a feeling of dread and despair clouded her mind.

What had happened! What was this madness… this massacre! The ground was littered with bodies- massive, stone-skinned bodies that possessed the strength of ten men- all broken and died. Their massive power completely rendered useless and the fluids that had kept them alive now covered their outsides and the ground. In the middle of the carnage stood the human. His clothes had been torn and shred in various places and he was covered with wounds. But the worst part was the large, purple-green hole that desecrated his stomach. His lower body had been punctured by a powerful and very poisonous stinger and even though he stood tall, she knew that he had been horribly and perhaps fatally wounded.

She wanted to scream and cry and run towards him and comfort him, but she couldn't .She could only watch in silent horror as the human collapsed when the poison took its dreadful effect.

She woke up screaming and kicking, feeling a thick layer of something covering her body. Even as she trashed and stumbled around she felt herself being freed. Slowly a blanket left her body and she calmed herself down.

Staring down at her was the familiar face of the demon. It had cleaned itself and it was shining its beautiful whiteness again, although its head continued to be creepy in her eyes.

"Calm down!" He said and dropped a piece of white fabric on the ground. She realised that she was lying in a bed, in some sort of room. The clothing that the demon had dropped was a blanket- had he put her in just like her parents used to do?

Now that she was awake and reassured by the presence of her trainer she started to calm down a bit. What was that? Was it a nightmare? It felt so real…

The demon turned back to the spot it came from and started staring at he curtain that obscured the window. Wait, a curtain?

She looked around her and noticed that it was very dark. Had the day passed without her noticing?

"**What happened?" **She asked. Her memory was a bit unclear and she didn't remember why she had been sleeping in the first place. Her head throbbed and hurt and her body didn't fare much better. She stirred once and immediately felt her arms ache with protest. She gave up on the movement and instead tried to get a view on her surroundings, like her trainer had told her to.

The demon didn't respond but instead kept his eye on the curtain, not even looking at her. Why would he do that? Fine just let him keep staring at a boring piece of fabric, she didn't care. What she did care for was what had put her in that state? Something important had happened, something that she had to remember, but she couldn't tell. Her mind still felt too numb and she couldn't concentrate. Her emotions were so tangled that she couldn't even focus on those- let alone on the feelings of any other creature.

With a flash, she remembered what had occurred. She and the demon had been traveling over a road that had seemed to be bursting with wild Pokemon. There she had fought with both her body and her mind- exhausting both. After that she had collapsed…and the demon had probably carried her further.

She frowned. So why hadn't he simply kept on walking? He seemed so obsessed on reaching the one particular city that he wanted to…reach…that he had never even once thought about resting or letting her rest. So why…?

And with another painful stab in her mind she remembered something else. She had woken up once before, before she found herself in this room. Something awful had happened and she had prevented her trainer from doing something awful too…she thought.

It was all so vague! It frustrated her. Why had nobody told her that using psychic energy could cause that much aftereffects!

Let's see... she had woken up to find the demon fighting with bad humans. Then she had noticed the lady lying on the ground and how her clothes were so ripped. She had felt the passions and emotions of the humans that were attacking and found out that they had been planning on mating with the female human- even though she had refused to do so.

Yes, that was it. Her trainer had driven them off and tried to help the lady- but being a demon he could not possibly know how humans felt or how he should help them. She had prevented him from making it appear that he wanted to mate with the human too and then the human had recovered slightly.

Oh yes and then both she and the female human had collapsed. So the demon actually reached a city? While carrying both her and the female? That was rather impressive.

"**All you alright?" **She asked when he had still not responded. They had been traveling for…at least more than a day now- and she had never once seen him eat or drink or even rest. But once again she didn't understand much about him.

He still didn't respond and kept his gaze on the curtain, like it was the most interesting thing that he had ever seen. But then he cocked his head- ever so slightly- and spoke. His voice sounded weird- it had a tone that he had never used before. It took Ralts a few seconds to actually understand the feeling that lay hidden in his voice and when she did, she didn't believe it. That couldn't possibly be true! There was no way her demon felt like that!

His voice contained humor.

Impossible!

"We got company."

She was still trying to make sense of the sudden outburst of emotions the demon had suddenly displayed, when he turned to face her and she saw that he was already carrying his thunder-stick. So the company that he was expecting was not nice?

"**What is going on?"** she asked him.

"The bikers we neutralized today had friends. I'll be right back."

Ralts gulped when she thought about the implications. The males that had been attacking her trainer weren't nice…were their friends nice? Was he going to talk to the friends? They might even help him!"

~0~

"Hey assholes!" The guy in the lead said. "We found out that you wasted our buddies! Now the entire village will pay!"

The people that had been so happily shopping and laughing outside had taken shelter in their houses the moment that they heard the engines rolling. They knew that sound all too well and they knew what these bastards were capable off.

So when the group of ten bikers had approached Viridian city everyone that had even the slightest bit of sanity or concern for their own safety had tried to get to a safe place.

Everyone but the Spartan, who had been keeping an eye out for trouble the second that he had deducted that there would be blood for the casualties that he had inflected. How? Because a biker's gang was- according to the movies and novels that he had been forced to watch- always a large collection of arrogant and selfish thugs. They lied to themselves about some sort of code-of-honor and they would bloodily avenge every fallen member. By enacting their revenge on harmless civilians they kept their reputation high.

Or at least that was what he had concluded from the movie and the behavior of the ones that he had encountered. While Ralts was resting in its bed he had closed every curtain in the room to make it appear as if nothing specific was happening there, while keeping one of the curtains slightly open. He had then positioned himself so that he could see everyone approaching the village from over a hundred meters away. With barely a centimeter left for him to see through he had still spotted the bikers the moment he should have.

His pokemon had woken up at the moment that he spotted the bikers and he had told it that he would be right back- after taking care of the incoming hostiles.

So while everyone fled to safety and took refuge in their homes he had calmly walked up to the front of the village where he could intercept the hostiles without causing unnecessary damage to their surroundings. He was standing tall and mighty, like a great storm before some helpless field mice. He knew it and they…probably didn't. That made them even easier to take out.

Still he allowed them to get close enough to the village to threaten it with violence- for a multitude of reasons. Firstly he disliked having to actually kill humans that weren't Innies- seeing as the UNSC could use everyone they met and these people might have made some good mercenaries if they would ever have to face the covenant.

But that wasn't an option right now; they were a threat and he would act accordingly without hesitation. But even though he did not truly understand the subject of psychological warfare- he did know that his actions would dictate the actions of the incoming bikers. If they fled before him and spread the tale then he wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. Perhaps they had allies or more gang members and he did not want to risk his Ralts getting hurt by straight bullets every time he encountered them.

So he would give them a chance to run away, to cower beneath his might as they realized that it was futile to fight him. Any smart creature would, why wouldn't they?

As the person- whom he presumed was the leader of the group- threatened the village with death, he calmly walked forward with his rifle at the ready. The MA5C carbine would tear through their clothes and bodies without difficulty the second he opened fire.

Why were they all steering their bikes with only one hand? It was as if they were holding their other hand behind their back, every single one of them…

"Now look at what we got!" The leader said and ginned at the Spartan, stopping his bike a mere ten meters away. "We got ourselves a hero! Alright bastard, who is responsible for the killing?"

"I am." The Spartan responded without emotion. "Run or die, your choice."

These people should thank him on their bare knees or the chance that he had given them; never before had he given someone a chance before taking them out. Never before did he have a reason or opportunity to do so.

But the lead biker merely spit at the ground and flipped him the finger. "Fuck you tin man! We ain't scared of a soldier boy like you!"

Time slowed down as the Spartan aimed his rifle and squeezed of a single shot, hitting his target right between the eyes and killing him dead. The rest of the bikers all screamed and- even while accelerating their bikes- unslung the poke balls that they had been hiding and threw them in the air.

Really? After he had dispatched of the group that had been assaulting the Nurse, you know, those with the guns and the bats- he had expected something more impressive. But guess that's it.

He aimed his rifle more carefully, and steadied his breathing. With carefully placed shots he shot five out of the seven balls out of the air before they could hit the ground. But to his annoyance the balls simply sprang open and revealed their inhabitants.

Why hadn't they died? They should have, the poke balls had been their strategic weakness! Now he would have to rethink his strategies again. Did nothing work properly in this world?

He redirected his aim and took out five of the bikers before they had closed the distance. Five of remaining bastards were still combat ready. Now they pulled out various armaments and weapons- one of them sported a sub machinegun. That would be his priority target.

The various pokemon that had been summoned ranged from large to small, one of them looked like a big purple zit that floated in the air. The only difference as that it had two faces - probably some inbred mutant native to a toxic-waste area. There were some creatures that looked like big rocks with limbs and the Spartan even spotted the same large bird that he had taken out when it was hunting his Ralts- although this individual didn't bear any scars, so it had to be a different one.

The last two Pokemon looked vaguely humanoid- one of them was about as large as Ralts was only a little bit larger and blue, while the other one looked like it could have been its daddy. It was heavily muscled and possessed four arms. On its head stood three ridges and it looked like it was ready to tear the Spartan's head off.

Likewise.

The smaller one had the appearance of a naked child, but the rippling muscles and confident smug on his face suggested otherwise.

The bikers opened fire on the Super-soldier at the same time they started shouting orders to their pokemon.

"Weezing! Use poison gas!"

"Machamp, tear his head off!"

"Machop take him out using low kick!"

"Golem use rollout!"

"Fearow use your gust attack!"

Even as the Spartan was dodging the racing bikes, dealing death blows left and right until only two bikers remained, their Pokemon proved harder to be taken out. He spun to his left to dodge a crashing bike- its rider dead by a bullet through his heart- and he spotted something racing at him from the corner of his eye. He placed his left leg underneath his left and rolled backwards, immediately pushing his legs up rising. A builder flew over his head just as he dodged backwards and he traced its trajectory, spotting the big rock-like creature that had been responsible. The bird was coming in from his right so he had to act quickly; he fired off a salvo at the Pokemon- but many bullets were reflected as the creature pulled its limbs in like a turtle would. The normally ever so deadly projectiles scratched its shell and caused pieces of rock to fall to the ground, but it wasn't out of the fight.

He immediately dodged to his left and the large bird swept past him.

Suddenly a cloud of purple gas appeared in his field of vision and he realized that this cloud was probably poisonous- as suddenly no other creature wanted to be near him.

It mattered little- his armor possessed powerful filtration systems that could completely remove toxins and bacteria from the local atmosphere. The purple cloud was no more threatening to him as the bikers' melee weapons were. Even though it obscured his vision, it actually provided him with a tactical advantage- the Pokemon wouldn't engage him in close combat while he was in it. He on the other hand. Was free to engage. He activated his thermal imaging and focused on his target: the flying bird.

His rifle barked and he was rewarded with a muffled cry. As soon as the target was down he jumped- powered by his armor he propelled himself multiple meters in the air, trailing little columns of poison gas as he flew through the air. He pulled the trigger and the burst hit the nearest biker in his chest, leaving only one human to deal with.

He rolled over his shoulder and jumped back to his feet. The floating as-ball that had targeted him with the poisonous gas was right in front of him, looking startled.

"Weezing!" The biker yelled. "Use explosion!"

"_Weezing wheez!_" It said and began to glow white. The Spartan didn't wait for it to complete his attack and grabbed it with his hand. He smacked it down to the ground- hard enough for it to bounce right back. He spun to his other heel and pivoted, hitting the Pokemon with a powerful roundhouse kick and sending it flying to the two Rock-pokemon. They had no time to retreat in their shells before the creature exploded, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Their shells were cracked and dented; perfect targets. The Spartan pumped a few rounds in the holes of their armor and watched as they screamed and died.

That left only two targets- the two humanoids. He had almost forgotten about them and he turned around, intending to slot them both before he could find out what they were capable of.

Unfortunately they were too close to him for comfort. Before he could finish his movement, he felt the rifle being yanked out of his hands.

Which was very odd, as he had a decent grip on it and the only creatures that had ever yanked a gun out of HIS hands were Brutes, Elites and Hunters. All of which he had killed seconds after they had yoinked him.

So what creature on this world had enough power to steal his gun from his hands?

The answer presented itself in the form of four heavily muscled arms that suddenly attempted to pummel him to death. They were so incredibly fast that he was hard-pressed to actually defend himself against it. This foe was so strong and fast that he quickly decided that conventional techniques couldn't cut it. He dived back to avoid two jabs and then- as the rash creature came charging at him- he performed a low stop-kick to its chest, sending it tumbling many meters down the road.

The moment he had room to breathe he grabbed the Pokedex and activated it.

"MACHAMP, THE MUSCLE POKEMON. IT IS SAID THAT IT CAN THROW OVER A HUNDRED PUNCHES IN A SECOND AND THAT ITS POWER IS ENOUGH TO SEND ANY OPPONENT TO THE HORIZON."

That is ridiculously overpowered. How could any creature move so fast or be so strong without augmentations? Its limbs would have to burn away every tendon and nerve when it moved like that!

But still, it couldn't be smart or else it would have tried a different technique now. It charged at the Spartan again all the while screaming at him with bloody hate. Probably because of the violent way his trainer died.

The Spartan decided that delicacy was the way to beat this powerhouse. He let the creature charge him and sidestepped when it was within range- putting his shoulder next to the Pokémon's- and grabbed its neck with his outer arm. He then used its own weight and momentum against it as he spun it around 360 degrees. Then he intercepted it with his hand- grabbing its face with his hand- and slammed it on the ground, cracking its skull right open.

It was dead on impact.

The Spartan turned to face his last opponent- the little child thing- just as it jumped at him. It was very close and the Spartan would have to deflect it instead of dodging it, always a dangerous thing to do.

But just as its eyes turned triumphant and it was almost on top of the Spartan- it stopped dead in its tracks.  
A weird green aura enveloped it- one that the Spartan recognized- and it struggled with all its might but to no avail. It couldn't do as much as wiggle its eyebrows- other than that it was completely immobilized.

"_Ralts ralts_!" He heard an all-too familiar voice yell. Even for him the underlying emotion was clear; Ralts was angry.

The Pokemon flinched as the pressure on its body increased and suddenly it smacked down to the ground, hitting it with enough force to make the ground shake a little. Then it flew up and sideways- creating a hole in one of the walls. Lastly the pokemon floated up in air and the green light just exploded- surging outwards and sending various people that had sneaked out of their houses to observe the fight sprawling to the ground. The Pokemon fell to the ground, utterly beaten to an inch of its life and the Spartan…didn't even need to take a step backwards.

"Ralts?" he asked, curious as to the sudden display for violence. From what he had seen he thought that his companion hated any form of violence.

It stood in the window if the Pokemon Center, its shoulders hanging and its petite body shaking with barely-controlled emotions.

He was actually surprised. The little Pokemon had covered his six- even though he didn't need its help it could have gone worse without it. He didn't know what the last pokemon had been capable of.

But the knowledge that his Pokemon had willingly exhausted itself to help him and had actually accomplished something didn't ease his worries; it actually worsened them.

The Ralts behaved much like he guessed a team member would. And even though he usually never worked with other soldiers, he never left one behind when at all possible.

The fact that his Pokemon was behaving this way was…problematic. If he didn't watch it, he would get attached to the creature.

In the silence that followed the Machop's defeat, people slowly exited their houses and hiding places. More and more people entered the streets to get a good view on what was happening.

"He did it!" An elderly woman rasped. "He beat those punks!"

"And he even took care of their Pokemon! Who is this guy?"

"He is a bloody hero that is who he is!" A rather large man with a British moustache decorating his upper lip spoke.

A hero? Some people would call him a murderer for what he had done here. They had done so before. Guess he'd never find out just why people felt the way they did.

"Come on ralts…" He said and patted to his shoulder-plate. "Can you pull of one more teleport?"

The Pokemon smiled warmly as she channeled her power and suddenly found herself on the familiar cold plates of the demon's shoulder. She rested her head against his and felt like everything was going to be alright- including her completely exhausted body.

The Spartan turned towards the nearest civilian- an old man with glasses. "Saffron city?" He said.

"Follow Route 2 to the north into Viridian forest. Then you follow the present road until you enter Pewter city good sir!" The man said as he stared at the Spartan with an incredulous expression.  
Seriously, what was wrong with these people? He had only taken out a local biker gang, no big deal! As he faced the north and set off towards this Route 2- his Ralts sleeping on his shoulder- he noticed that several of the bikes had a large pink R written on the side. Probably a gang insignia or something.

…

"Spread the word to the other Jenny's…" Secretary Joy spoke to the police officer. "They need to know that they must not yet abandon hope! I believe that a new Champion will save Kanto!"

~0~

"_An unknown trainer wearing stranger armor entered our city just a few hours ago. He killed s few members of the Biker gang that had been terrorizing us and saved our precious Nurse Joy! Then the rest of the gang came to kill us all and he killed them too! This man is a soldier to his bones I can tell you that!"_

Anonymous Veteran speaking to his grandchild.

~0~

**And that was chapter 7. I have been working very hard on this chapter and I hope that you all like it. A few complications arose, no big deal. If only Ralts and Math realized that they are becoming more and more tangled in a web of schemes and lies with every step they take. Will Ralts be able to comprehend the Spartan's presence?**

**Will the Spartan ever come to peace with his decision?**

**Will he ever find out the difference between making people happy with killing tons of blokes and making them upset with killing tons of blokes?**

**Tune in to more chapters and find out!**

…

**Please Rate and Review- I really am in desperate need of reviews. **


	8. Emotions and ears

**I just found out that certain smiley's and emoticons don't appear in the site. That leaves my pre-story babbling awfully ugly to see, as certain smiley's had been used to replace some punctuation and to make me look friendly.**

**I have a feeling that there isn't much character interaction up to now. Sure the Spartan has his own weird way of communicating with the creatures around him, but there isn't much **_**interaction.**_** The main problem is the communication between him and his pokemon- which is rather one-sided now. But don't worry! I have already planned way in advance and these are nothing more than musings in a mirror. I just wanted to let you guys know that this story has only just begun!**

**A few more nice reviews from you guys put my total reviews beyond 20- which is my official milestone. Let's hit the 50 shall we! **

**Special thanks to Lay Down Hunter as I hadn't seen you in a while and I feared that you didn't like the story anymore :(**

**I do feel a bit bad about how I can't really answer all of your questions; there are some things that are perhaps not completely clear to you guys now. But like I said: I plan way in advance and I am not the kind of person to type or think of something and then forget about it. So even if you think I have managed to create a huge plot hole- DO NOT BE CONFUSED! (gotta love Johnson's quotes) Not everything that doesn't make sense now is necessarily a plot hole- they might even be plot twists! * gasps in surprise * **

**(Except for the thing pointed out by Spartan 262 who posted another great review; I seemed to have made quite the mistake there. You are right; he has guns on his back. What I meant to portray was that he wasn't currently holding them but the way I did it was very buggy indeed)**

**And yes I am aware of how accusing this all might sound, so let me go ahead and say that none of you have accused me of creating plot holes. It is just the ravenous guilt of not being able to answer every question that made me type this :) **

**That being said, I want to personally thank everyone that has read this story for bearing with me. Not only did I get 21 reviews- I also have more than a dozen followers and favers and I want to thank you guys too, I feel like I have my own little gang ;)**

**Enough talk already- people came to read not to read!**

**Enjoy!**

~0~

"_Do you feel that your training was too...thorough for you as a kid?"_

"_No."  
"Do you harbor certain feelings of anger and hatred towards the UNSC for the brutal training regimes that your instructors came up with?"_

"_No."_

"_Do you miss your parents, the people you knew and cared for?"_

"_Irrelevant."_

'Conversation' between Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield and 2-Sierra 011- 6 November 2545.

~0~

Ralts- lvl 13- significant moves: teleport, growl and confusion.

~0~

Slowly Viridian city disappeared behind them. He had wasted too much time playing hero when his first priority should have been to contact the UNSC.

He felt as if his two greatest duties were constantly conflicting with each other. He needed to get back in the fight to protect mankind but he also needed to protect mankind while he was trying to get back in the fight. It was hopelessly complicated and he wished that it were simpler. He had always been forced to face though decisions- making sacrifices, destroying sensitive information and even assassinations carried out in the most extreme ways.

It was all part of his duty as a Spartan and he never gave it much thought until now. It wasn't a question of how much he would sacrifice- he would do anything to complete his objective. It was a question of what he should sacrifice and what for. He could either forsake his duty as a Spartan to keep interfering with the workings in this country or he could forsake his duty as a soldier to ignore everyone and everything to get to the UNSC.

He was a Spartan and it was his duty to protect mankind whatever the cost. But this world was clearly unique in its ecosystems and symbiosis. The key to beating the Covenant might be hidden here. It seemed impossible to him that the UNSC had managed to colonies a world like this without investigation the local wildlife. The discovery of creatures such as these would have made for excellent propaganda to keep moral up amongst the fleets.

The UNSC would have either kept it a secret but also as top priority in their research and plans, or revealed it to boost the morale - either way he would have heard about it.

Besides; ONI would have made a breakthrough by now. These 'Pokemon' possessed so much weird abilities that the UNSC would have been able to make several scientific advances. And he knew how low the morale amongst the fleet-officers was.

So if the UNSC hadn't officially discovered this planet…then how could these people be here? It had to have been an accident. Some sort of Slipspace incident with a ship large enough to support the planet's current population- whatever that was.

Ever since his motion tracker had been mysteriously disabled he had kept a close eye on his environment. So when he spotted motion roughly two-hundred meters ahead he immediately snapped to attention. If his experiences with the Pokemon had taught him anything then it was to expect anything.

"_Ralts!"_ His companion said looked up at the Spartan. It had looked like it was healthy enough so he had let it walk with him- a tactical disaster as it would slow him down considerably but the benefit for the creature outweighed the downsides for him.

"Movement up ahead!" He said and crouched on his knees. "We'll scout ahead and see what we got."

The Ralts nodded and- when the Spartan wasn't looking- tried to crouch down like he had. Its body trembled a bit and its legs collapsed, sending it sprawling to the ground. It emitted a disappointed sound and slowly got back up- its meager amounts of self-confidence having dropped even more.

Together they covered a distance of 180 meters before the Spartan stopped. He lifted his right hand in the air- universal image of 'stop!' and didn't feel that his Pokemon bumped into him.

The movement was still present but too indistinct to be a human. It had to be a Pokemon hiding there in the small bushes.

"Ralts…" He said. Can you do your thing and lure it out?"  
It looked up at him and nodded, happy that it could be of some use once again. With small steps it walked forwards until it faced the bushes.

~0~

Lure it out… lure it out…how was she going to lure it out? She knew that it was a pokemon in there and that is war angry, but it didn't feel like those of the mean leather-clothed males that her trainer had defeated.

She didn't even know what it was! And she had to lure it out?

She looked around and spotted a medium-sized branch lying near the road. She focused her thought and could feel the psychic power unfolding within her mind. She reached out towards the branch with it and smiled with joy as she grabbed a hold of it. She concentrated on the stick flying towards the bushes and then channeled her powers.

The stick sailed through the air and landed with a distinct 'thud!' between the bushes.

An angry wail followed approximately one second later and the inhabitant of the shrubbery made itself known.

Ralts gulped as she beheld the pokemon that she had angered and her first thought was to run.

~0~

The super-soldier watched his Pokemon telepathically slinging a nearby branch into the bushes. Not exactly what he had in mind for it- he would have had his Ralts use its mental powers to immediately attack and disable the unknown hostile- but this would have to do.

The creature snarled with pain and jumped out of the bushes. It looked around and spotted the Ralts standing several meters away. With a growl it charged.

It looked like a spiked rabbit- but with some reptilian features. It had large ears, a purple skin and several thick spikes protruding from its back. On its head it sported a sharp point and a pair of red-colored eyes. It possessed two sharp nails on each limb and oversized teeth were visible in its mouth.

The Spartan briefly wondered whether its spikes were poisonous or not and decided to grab his Pokedex.

"NIDORAN, THE HORNED POKEMON. ITS HORN IS LARGER AND MORE POWERFUKL THAN ITS FEMALE COUNTERPART AND IT HAS EXCELLENT HEARING. IT CAN MOVE ITS EARS IN EVERY DIRECTION AND CAN HEAR ITS ENEMIES APPROACHING FROM LARGE DISTANCES."

Excellent hearing? A creature with understanding of the human language and such accurate hearing could prove invaluable to his campaign. He would have to try and…catch it.

He grunted as he realized that he was about to take another creature to keep check off with him. Once again its pros outweighed the cons but that didn't make it less troublesome.

"Ralts, use your powers to smack it into the tree!" He barked at his Pokemon and watched as it tried to get the Nidoran in the air. Before it could completely envelop the Pokemon in its psychic field it was on top of it. The Spartan realized that the Pokemon would not complete the attack in such a short notice and decided to change the rules.

"Abort and take evasive maneuvers!" He quickly yelled and the Ralts stopped its attack. The charging Nidoran barely missed the Pokemon as it rolled to its side.

The distance between Ralts and Nidoran was too small for his companion to effectively use its psychic abilities. It would have to level the playing field.

That or use close combat fighting- which it obviously wasn't built for.

"Get some distance!" He said and observed the Nidoran's behavior. It was angry, so it charged its opponent like a berserking Brute would. That rendered it vulnerable to tactic exploits- something that Ralts would need to realize. His attention was drawn to the spike on top of the Pokémon's head and he realized that the powerful evolutionary progress that had rendered it its weapon might have also given it a weakness. If the spiky creature were to get stuck somehow then it would be vulnerable.

He glanced at a fallen tree and decided.

"Ralts, teleport to the fallen tree." He ordered. With a green flash the creature disappeared and reappeared near the fallen log. Now for the rest of his plan.

The Nidoran glanced at the Ralts and its surroundings and looked thoughtful. If it guessed what the Spartan was planning then his Pokemon would be at a severe disadvantage. He could not allow the wild pokemon to do that.

"Get its attention!" He barked and hoped that his Ralts was able to determine what was best.

~0~

"Get its attention!"

What? Again? Fine, if that was what the demon thought was best. She waved at the Nidoran and shouted at it- hoping that her soft voice reached its big silly ears.

"**Hey big…meanie! Your dark spots are ugly!" **She yelled at the top of her voice and immediately felt her cheeks sting red. She had never insulted another being before!

She shot a quick glance at the demon, hoping that he had not heard her.

The Nidoran male was just as taken back by her remarks as she was, but instead of becoming embarrassed she could feel its anger increase. She had managed to get its attention, but now what?

The purple animal charged at her again, this time from a much closer distance. What should she do?

"Get ready to teleport again…"The demon said, his voice perfectly calm and his feelings didn't even fluctuate once. He was always so incredibly calm… it almost inspired her. But no matter how calm she could get, the feelings and emotions of the creatures around her always confused her. Maybe she could do better one day…

But for now, she obeyed the demon. She held her ground until the Nidoran was nearly on top of her and almost had a heart attack when the demon told her to teleport "now!" His voice was always so sudden; she never quite expected when to hear it.

She focused on the area directly behind the charging Nidoran and directed her mental energy. She disappeared in a flash half a second before the Pokemon could hit her- which kept going and crashed into the trunk.

She reappeared behind it and took a second to calm her breath. Teleporting was so exciting!

She watched as the demon approached both her and the squirming Nidoran and felt a slight concern for the wild Pokemon. Her trainer had harmed the mean Pokemon that were attacking him before- would he do so again?

~0~

The Spartan looked at the poke ball he held in his hand, not knowing how to proceed now. The wild Pokemon was weakened enough for him to catch it according to Professor Oak's explanations. So should he just… throw the ball? It seemed a too easy to be true… the technology in this world was crazy.

But what did he have to lose? If it didn't work then he would simply pick up the ball and move on.

"Ralts, get to cover!" He called and casually threw the ball. He didn't want to risk anything happening to his companion- what with the unknown radiation-possibilities and electromagnetic conversions and all. The Nidoran was expendable- Ralts was not.

The capturing device hit its target and for a second it emitted a small red laser. Then the rodent-like creature turned into a red haze and it disappeared inside of the poke ball. The red device fell on the ground and stayed there, occasionally wobbling from left to right.

Once. Twice. Thrice- and then it stopped. The ball lay perfectly still and nothing moved, safe for Ralts who was breathing heavily, probably feeling exhausted from the use of her psychic abilities. The Nidoran male was captured and now the Spartan had two creatures that he had to take care of. The creature had better prove that it was worth the trouble.

"Come on Ralts, let's go." He said and took a step forwards, half expecting another creature to attack them. He swore to himself that if one did he would simply knock it out and move on.

But nothing jumped at him, nothing tried to engage Ralts and he found himself ready to move onwards. His white companion took the lead and he was forced to slow down significantly to let it continue on its way. Normally he would have carried it and hurried to the next city but it had to realize that people in the front were responsible for their actions- responsible for the consequences.

"Take point," he said and gestured at the little thing, "you decide where we go and how we proceed. You decide whether to engage or circle around."

With the small Pokemon in the lead he decided that this Ralts was unlike any Pokemon he had encountered until now. A turtle, a rodent and a rat. A bird, a human with four arms and a big chunk of rock.

Oh and floating two-faced radiation survivors. No big deal.

So what was with its appearance? Vaguely humanoid, alien-like and not reminiscent of any form of animal. So what was it? It behaved like a child, yet paid attention to him and learned like it was a UNSC marine fresh from the academy.

How was he supposed to know what it felt or behaved like when he couldn't even understand other humans? It was completely insane for him to even try. So how was he supposed to even live with it together for a few weeks if he didn't understand it? Normally it wouldn't have mattered but he found that the past hours had already changed him somewhat. So what would the coming weeks do to him? He was unsure.

But then a sudden inspiration struck him and wondered why he hadn't thought of that before. The Pokedex that Oak had given him for some reason. He could use that to get some information about the Ralts.

Slowly he pulled out the red mini-computer and pressed the screening button. Then he aimed it at the Pokemon walking in front of him. Then he waited for the robotic voice to come.

"RALTS, THE FEELING POKEMON. RALTS CAN USE THE HORNS ON ITS HEAD TO READ HUMAN AND POKEMON - IT LIKES PEOPLE WITH POSITIVE EMOTIONS."

Oh.

It liked people with positive emotions? Then why did it stick around him; it's not like he was the world's greatest optimist. He was a Spartan- a soldier with only one ultimate goal. If Ralts could read human emotions…then what was it reading off of him? He hadn't let emotions dictate his decisions since he was a child. Frankly enough he didn't even understand what his actual emotions _were_ half the time. He had spent so long suppressing his needs, his personal feelings and emotions that he had a difficult time making sense of whatever sensation he experienced these days.

And seriously, the biker gang that had been harassing Viridian city hadn't been the nicest people. Their desires were all too obvious and their ways of reaching them couldn't be much more…positive to Ralts.

He concluded that the ability to sense the emotions and feelings of creatures was a terrible thing; he would rather be left in the dark about how people felt than be able to constantly experience them.

Ralts was living in a hard world. Maybe its weird abilities would develop or fade over time.

Until then the Spartan would continue protecting the Pokemon.

And what about the other one? The Nidoran? He was currently taking care of two animals when all he ever wanted was to contact the UNSC. Even if they could understand him and even if they did possess human-leveled intelligence, they were not as important as his duty was. He was turning into a zookeeper. But no big deal, once the UNSC arrived he would be out of here and back in the fight. If there was any fighting left.

Enough musing about useless thoughts. For now he had a journey to make and a companion to train.

"Let's move!" He said and gestured for the Ralts to keep moving. It nodded at him and took a few tentative steps forward. Then it tripped and cried out.

So much for being point man. The Spartan sighed and with a few big strides he moved over to the fallen Pokemon. "Trouble?" He asked it. The creature looked up at him and sniffed.

People sniffed when they had runny noses. And when they were sad- because they would get runny noses. But it was warm outside and his Pokemon had yet to start training with cold and wetness. So it had to be sad.

But why? Just because it had fallen down, or because of something else- something that he might have missed? Had the fight with the wild pokemon been too stressful for it or was it the combination of past events?

Just like he knew that the Nurse might have gotten traumatized if he had slaughtered the gang of bikers on top of her, he understood that the events of Viridian city could have been very hard on Ralts.

In the fighting that had occurred he had killed almost a dozen of men and their Pokemon too. The ruckus had been enough to wake Ralts up from its exhaustion-induced sleep. It had probably gazed out of the window- in its childlike curiosity for what was going on and where he had went. And then it saw him fighting and killing a big group of hostile bikers and Pokemon.

But instead of getting overwhelmed by the emotions that the Spartan now knew that it could sense, it realized that he could be in danger- according to the Pokémon's logic- and had even tried to interfere. It could have been terrified by the gunshots or the raging feelings and emotions that the bikers had probably felt.

It had blasted open the window somehow and then it had taken out the target that was about to flank him. That was something only humans did- only the strongest team cohesion would enable someone to risk itself for another being.

Or at least that was what he had thought up to now. At that moment, he wasn't too sure. But when he saw the Ralts sniff and he had concluded that it was stress-induced breakdown, he took action.

"Don't worry. You did fine- no-one would have done better." He had no clue on how to reassure someone mentally- when the body itself was hurt then certain tricks would enable him to get a soldier back on his feet in no time. With the nonhuman creature that was mentally hurt? He could only try and appear confident and sure of himself- something that he always did anyway. But still, the Ralts had proven vulnerable to certain gestures, words and even physical contact. So he picked it up once again and carried it in his arms. He knew that it was very young still and children all needed a mother or a father. He was the least qualified person on the world to be a parental-figure, but if that was what it would take for his Pokemon to get its mind together- then he would try and act like a proper mother.

Just this once.

For some reason that line of reasoning seemed flawed…but he couldn't yet grasp why. Nevertheless they still needed to move. So with the freshly captured Nidoran inside his ball and with the crying Ralts gently packed in his arms, he moved.

Sometimes fighting the Covenant's mightiest warriors in a desperate struggle for survival was way easier than having interactions with nonhostile creatures.

~0~

She couldn't bear it anymore. The pressing weight of recent violence, coupled with severe mental and bodily exhaustion for a long time period was taking its toll on her. She had defeated the angry Nidoran male in combat and her trainer had captured it, but she couldn't help but feel depressed. Some part of her blamed the demon for it; had a positive-minded and cheerful person found her, she would have been way happier and healthier. But no, she had to get saved by a faceless and emotionless demon that felt like a hollow cocoon of single-minded thoughts and sensations. She loved and hated him at the same time- which was also very irritating because she couldn't even understand how _she_ felt, let alone other creatures.

And now- just when she had to continue with proving that she was a capable fighter like he was by leading the way in their adventure- she had to go and trip over her own limbs. She fell to the ground without being able to break her fall like she had been thought and hurt herself. Not badly, the Pidgey had hurt her more. But the indignity and unfairness of it all had broken her shell of confidence and toughness and now she felt all her past frustrations and pain pour out like it was raining. She couldn't help it, it was just too much. She broke down and started crying; fully realizing that the demon would not understand how she felt and that he wouldn't approve of it. That knowledge hurt her even more and caused her to cry even harder. Her life was so unfair! Her parents had left her, she was alone and lost and traveling with a twisted and savage demon.

Strong hands wrapped around her small frame and she felt herself being lifted off the ground. But this time the experience felt different- gentler. It was like the demon was actually trying to make her feel comfortable.

"Don't worry. You did fine- no-one would have done better." He said and then he placed her in his arms, holding her almost like her parents held her when she was younger. The gesture eased her thoughts and she tried to see what it was that had made the demon do this- what had made him act in that way.

There still wasn't anything that she could directly sense, but there was one sensation that she experienced from his mind. One final thought or decision that had made him do what he was doing.

He was worried about her. He cared for her wellbeing and wanted her to feel better. That was what he felt, right? It was so hard to concentrate…

"Relax, you're gonna be fine."

And what did he know? He was a demon, he didn't understand anything. How could he know what was causing her distress?

And yet…at least he cared. That had to count for something right? He tried to help her a little and that was what's important. So she resigned and tried to relax as much as possible in the arms of the demon. Her sadness and tears hadn't quite disappeared yet, but at least she knew that she wasn't totally alone.

~0~

The two of them walked like that for a while, the Pokemon cradled safely in the Spartan's arms and the recently captured Nidoran stored inside of the ball. The road to viridian forest looked clear enough and there weren't any creatures in their way- human or otherwise. Neither of them said a thing, but that didn't really matter. Neither of them had something to say for the moment and there wasn't anything wrong with silence. But the Spartan's curiosity for the Ralts' state of mind was greater than his desire to continue moving in silence.

"So…" He said, not really sure if he should talk to someone that was so upset. "Can you feel the Nidoran's emotions from inside his ball?"

The Ralts stirred and its head turned to its right; where the Poke ball was stored on the Spartan's utility belt. Then it shook its head ever so slightly- a universal sign for negative.

So the poke ball blocked whatever it was that Ralts used to feel the emotions around it. Or it blocked any mental transmissions that the creatures here used to broadcast any possible feelings. The whole concept of sensory skills in this world was upside down and twisted.

He remembered what the Pokemon professor had told him about the various types that Pokemon could be ordered in. If the pokemon he had encountered thus far could be classified in those fifteen types, then where would Ralts fit?

It was definitely no physical brawler and it didn't look like any form of elemental type- like the tortoise that spewed water from its mouth. That one must have been water.

So where did that leave Ralts? It used psychic abilities to read emotions and to fight, so it had to be a psychic type, right?

It didn't make much sense and the old man's little computer didn't help him much either. If it really was a psychic type then it would be weak to bug, dark and…ghost…types.

The whole idea of pokemon being classified under dark and ghost types didn't even make sense to him!

"Do you know what a dark type is?" He asked the Ralts. It didn't respond for several seconds, before shaking its head again.

So he would have to obtain his knowledge from a different source. That's ok. Together they walked down the road, until they encountered a soft turn to the right. As the Spartan determined whether it was safe to proceed, he noticed something shining on the side of road. His first thought was of an improvised explosive device- but the chemical-identification software in his HUD came up with a negative comparison, so homemade explosives could be excluded. It could still be a trap of some sorts, like a fragmentation grenade with wire attached to the pin. No, he wouldn't risk it.

"Ralts, can you use your telekinesis to determine the nature of the trap?" He quickly said to his Pokemon. The psychic type nodded and rose in his arms, trying to get up as high as possible. After a few inches it stopped and started to concentrate on the shining object a dozen meters in front of them. After roughly twenty seconds of silence, it stirred and looked up at him.

"_Ral ralts…" _It said while shaking its head.

So it wasn't a trap? Then he would proceed to phase two of his plan. He grabbed the red poke-ball on his belt and pocketed it. He pressed the button in the middle and the small sphere dilated, becoming easily twice as big. Then he pressed the button again and the red laser appeared, before the red light assumed the form of the Pokemon he had captured and Nidoran appeared.

"Nido nido!" It growled and turned around, its large ears twitching and turning to get a bead on whatever it was that he was hearing.

"Give me a signal when you hear anything suspicious, like a detonator being readied or a weapon drawn!" He told the creature, which then confirmed his request with a sharp nod and a loud "Nido!"

While the sensitive ears of the Pokemon covered him, he set Ralts down behind a rock and told it that he would be right back. Then he dropped to a crouch and slowly approached the object lying next to the road, his assault rifle at the ready. When he was within a range of one meter, he noticed that the object had a spraying bottle-like shape. Drugs? Alcohol? Maybe.

There wasn't any wiring around the object and neither could he detect any explosive shapes on the bottle.

So just a discarded spraying bottle? Kind of a disappointment. He still needed to confirm that it wasn't a threat to his Pokemon hiding several meters behind of him. He slowly reached out and at the same time boosted his shielding to optimal capacity- over pressuring his gel layer and preparing himself for a close detonation.

His hand closed around the bottle and he braced himself for and explosion.

Which never came. Curious. Why would someone leave a completely full spraying bottle just lying around? Why would someone carry that in the first place?

He read the words on the underside. 'Potion'. He'd better take it with him; he might get some useful information out of the molecular makeup of this worlds' substances. If not then maybe he could use it for something- if he found out what it was for.

~0~

Several meters back, both of his Pokemon were watching him with a substantial amount of disbelief.

"**What is it doing?"** The Nidoran said. Ralts didn't know whether it was just wondering out-loud or if it was asking her. She took it upon herself to answer anyway.

"**He thinks it is a trap." **She said and realized that her trainer must be looking quite foolish to the newly captured Pokemon. But that wasn't the case! The demon had been assaulted on multiple occasions- and he was a warrior after all. It would only make sense for him to be suspicious of shiny things lying down the road; even if said object was merely a trainer's item.

"**That's stupid. Why would it think so?" **The male responded. That remark angered her for some reason and she was quick to respond.

"**Don't talk about him like that! It's not an 'it' he's a he!" **She snapped at the Nidoran, which dropped its ears and took a step backwards.

"**I'm sorry…"** He responded to her surprise. "**It's just… this is all so new to me…being captured by a trainer…I barely just left my parents nest…"**

That shocked Ralts. He was barely a kid, just like she was! She already felt guilty for snapping at him like that. "**I am sorry for being angry with you…"** She started, and then she remembered that she had acted mean to him during their fight. **"Also for insulting you like that, back there."**

The Nidoran looked confused for a second before he too remembered. "**Don't worry about it; I was the one that attacked you guys."**

Before the two of them could continue their conversation, the demon returned. He was carrying the strange item he found on his side.

"Move out." He ordered and both of them understood that break time was over. Then the three of them- as Ralts was feeling better already, now that she had someone to actively talk to besides the demon-kept moving down the road. Eventually they took another turn but this time to the left, where they hit a dead end. At the end of the road lay another patch of tall grass, but this time to the side of the road. Beyond that was a gate, obviously the only way to proceed. This had to be the gate to viridian forest.

Ralts could already feel a multitude of emotions and feelings originating from inside the forest, where there had to be at least half a dozen people scattered across the area.

As quickly as the sensation had come, it disappeared again. The only emotions she could feel now where those of the Nidoran- which was still walking with them outside of its ball- and those of a trainer standing inside of the forest.

~0~

So this was the entrance to Viridian forest? Funny, he had expected something…well, more impressive. After all the ruckus that he had overheard some of the civilians back in the city cause, he half expected it to be on fire or something. Nevertheless, it never hurt to be careful. He didn't expect another biker gang to attack him- since he completely eradicated the one that did- but still, he alwas was unlucky.

He moved to the side of the gate and took cover there. Then he aimed his rifle down the hall and scanned the interior for hostiles, sweeping his rifle from left to right.

"Clear!" He called and gestured for Nidoran to move up with a subtle sweep of his hand.

It didn't move.

He stared at the creature for a second before remembering that had educated his other Pokemon in the military hand-signals used by special operations members. Great.

"You're up!" He said instead and this time the message was clear. The Nidoran stepped forward until he was inside of the opening. Then he proceeded to the other side of the hall, where the exit-gate already lay.

The Spartan moved next, taking a few quick strides to end up next to his Pokemon. Then Ralts joined them, instantly knowing that it would need to keep up with the group. He then exited the hall, stepping out to the right flank and covering their advance. Within a microsecond he took in the entire tactical picture: The forest was dark and compact, with entire segments of the area completely covered by tall menacing trees. There were many patches of grass scattered across the area and one person stood directly in front of him roughly six meters away. He was wearing a weird hat and a large bug catching net. Two poke balls adorned his abdomen and his head slowly turned towards the Spartan and his Pokemon entering the forest.

No hostiles in sight- the only human in the area was this kid- he couldn't be much older than 16.

"Don't shoot!" He cried out and held his hands in the air, terrified by the armed presence. The super-soldier wasn't planning on shooting this kid and he was already putting his weapon away when it cried out.

"Relax," The Spartan replied and stepped into the clearing- his eyes darting from left to right. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh…" The kid softly said while he was lowering his arms. "Why are you running around with a weapon? Are you a soldier? Your armor looks amazing! Are you here to fight team rocket?"

He didn't really feel like responding, but he did just barge inside the forest pointing his gun at the kid. People got terrified for less than that and he couldn't justify his behavior with just a limited degree of paranoia. Even if it was justified.

He had performed some missions in a civilian area before; during the Insurrectionist uprising of 2544 in the Chi Ceti IV system- after it had been taken into reuse by the UNSC. He had been forced to 'mingle' with the citizens without his armor for three days before he had a chance to complete his objective: the assassination of the Rebel captain Jakes. He had been successful in that matter- his presence hadn't been compromised and he had eliminated the target.

But the conditions in which he had to complete his objective were far from optimal for him. It had been the toughest mission to that date; mainly because of the social interaction that might have given him away as a Spartan. So in preparation of the OP he had memorized many scripts and dialogues; his superior officers had hoped that that would be sufficient.

They were right in the end.

So when the Spartan encountered the kid, he knew that he had to act casually to prevent any form of negative attention arising.

"Viridian city had a run-in with a local gang. I'm merely scouting the area." He said and hoped that the bug-catcher would not ask any more questions. This was exactly the kind of social interaction in which he couldn't shoot or Spartan-smash his way out of. A kid was no threat and he was not allowed to treat it like such until proven otherwise.

So no threatening or violence.

"You are also a trainer!" The kid suddenly said, his eyes glancing over the Ralts and Nidoran. "Cool! Can you please fight me? My pokemon need some training!"

…what?

Seriously? He was an armed seven-feet tall armored super-soldier and this kid wanted a trainer battle? He had better things to do!

To his great annoyance, a small rational part in his head knew that he needed money to buy food, water and possible medicine for his Pokemon. He couldn't afford to rampage around the area without any form of currency to buy supplies in an emergency. That and his Pokemon needed more training if they were to survive after his departure- if that ever came.

He never had to use money in his life before…this would be a drag. Would the financial support be worth the wasted time? Was he really going to play games with some random kid he had never met?

The more he needed to survive in this world the more he needed to set his dignity aside.

"Fine, a quick one." He finally agreed. He would overwhelm the kid's pokemon with Ralts and its powerful psychic abilities and collect his money. After that, onwards to the next city.

"Great!" The kid yelled and he pulled out his poke balls. All two of them. "Weedle! Go!" He threw the first ball and a large yellow caterpillar appeared.

The Spartan frowned and took a close look at the head. It had a distinctive red nose and two large bulging eyes. What caused his attention however was the large horn that adorned the creature's head. That would be as much of a problem as the Nidoran's horn was.

Wait a minute, the Nidoran! If its own horn was poisonous- and he had no doubt of it- then the Pokemon would be immune to the large caterpillar's poison. But he wasn't certain of that and he couldn't allow any of his Pokemon to get poisoned just because of his lack of strategic thinking.

Pokemon fights were as much of a battle as fighting in a war was- at least for the strategic thinking. And that was actually where the similarities ended. Still, he needed to adapt to this strange world were fighting was done by intelligent animals and not by humans. Incidentally at least.

From the large net and the clothing that the kid wore he deducted that this 'Weedle' had to be a bug type. Bug was weak to fire and air. He had neither of those, but still.

The entire concept of type's and weaknesses made no sense to him whatsoever but he would play along.

"Nidoran, your turn!" He called and at the same time made a subtle gesture that only Ralts noticed. It shuffled over to him at the same time Nidoran was walking forwards. As quietly as he could he could he whispered to it.

"Are Weedle and Nidoran both poisonous?"

The Ralts thought for a second and gazed at the two combatants getting ready for fighting. Then it nodded- to the Spartan's satisfaction. Now his plan would work and he would start with an advantage.

"Weedle! Use poison sting!" The catcher yelled, confirming his theories further. The creature raised its head and suddenly its stinger glowed white. A series of thin, long needles shot out of the horn and they were all aimed at the Nidoran. HE knew that it was immune to the poison- if they used the same kind- but he still needed the element of surprise.

"Dodge and close in with a zigzag pattern," He ordered his pokemon. The glistering hail of needles missed his Pokemon as it moved to the side, scattering harmlessly to the ground. Then the purple creature charged at the large worm. But he still wasn't close enough and the super-soldier knew that it had to dodge at least another volley- if the kid was clever enough to realize that himself, of course.

"Quick! Use your silk shot!" Said kid yelled and the Weedle opened its mouth.

Of course, caterpillars used silk to create cocoons. And spiders did so too- spiders could use their webs offensively, so perhaps this Weedle could do so too. Nidoran might be immune to the creature's damage, but it couldn't afford to get slowed down by the sticky silk.

"Roll to your side over your left legs and continue your charge!" He responded, not wanting to give the kid any room for breathing.

The Nidoran did as he instructed- without any form of martial arts training- and rolled over its side. Then it continued its charge and before the Weedle could do anything he rammed the insect with his own horn;. He hit it against the side of its head and knocked it out instantly.

"No! Weedle!" The kid said as his little bug fell unconscious to the ground. Then he pulled out his first poke ball and called the creature back. "You did great Weedle! Let's see you beat my Caterpie!"

And with that the kid unleashed another worm, this time a green one.

Seriously, which genius named these creatures?

The Spartan didn't want to give his opponent a chance to strike first and ordered his first attack.

"Nidoran, knock that thing over!" He was experimenting as much as he was improvising. He didn't know anything about these Pokemon and what the Nidoran could do. So he would have to adapt.

"Caterpie! Shower the ground in front of you with your silk shot!" The kid retaliated, showing a surprising amount of know-how. As the Nidoran charged, the Caterpie shot out its sticky silk and this time he hit true. Nidoran's legs became stuck to the ground and his charge was stopped dead.

"Great! Now use your tackle!" The bug-catcher continued. That was exactly what the Spartan had been planning- the moment Nidoran got caught the strategies changed.

"Wait for it!" He said to calm his Pokémon's desperate struggle to free itself. It raised its ears in surprise but did not disobey him- nor could it, seeing as it was glued to the ground.

The caterpillar surged forward with a surprising amount of momentum on its side. The moment it was almost on top of the helpless Nidoran, the Spartan gave him his orders. "Turn your head and ram it with your horn!"

The Nidoran blinked once and turned its head down just as the other Pokemon tried to ram into him.

"Caterpie dodge it!" The kid cried out, but he was too late. Partially at least. The Caterpie turned to dodge but its speed carried him far enough for its side to crash into Nidoran's horn. It squealed and quickly waggled backwards before the Nidoran could do any more damage.

Once again, too late. Seeing as the Cater pie's natural color was green- just like its environment- the Spartan guessed that its way of avoiding predators was too blend in with his surroundings. If it were poisonous- pokemon or not- it would have bright colors to warn its potential enemies away.

Like purple, for example.

The caterpillar squirmed and rolled over the ground as the poison took its effect.

"Damnit! Caterpie, return!" The kid said with a soft voice- his enthusiasm completely disappeared.

An understandable mistake, but a mistake nonetheless; Nidoran was caught on the ground with no hopes of moving for a while. Caterpie was poisoned yes, but not lethally so. The poison had yet to take its full effect. Had the Caterpie circled around and struck Nidoran from his side, repeated hits would have taken their toll on the Pokemon.

The kid still had much to learn- but not from him. He would have to find someone else, the Spartan had showed enough kindness. He walked over to Nidoran and pried his fingers underneath its stomach. Then he pulled it free from the ground, finding completely zero difficulty in tearing the silk apart. The Nidoran growled thankfully and tried to snuggle his helmet.

No.

He pulled out his Poke ball and tapped the creature on its head- the red laser appeared and the Pokemon was sucked inside.

"You beat me!" The bug catcher said, his voice oozing with disappointment to those that could understand the concept of emotion-filled tones. That meant just Ralts. "But it was fair and square- here, take this." The kid handed him a bundle of money, which the Spartan took after a second.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I like your style, so let me give you some tips. Coming straight from the bug master himself!" He aimed with his thumb to his chest for a while, before realizing that the armored soldier in front of him didn't respond. So he scraped his throat and continued talking.

"Your pokemon can get poisoned, paralyzed or burnt. They can also fall asleep. You can call their name to wake them up, but the other three aren't so simple to remove. You must use healing potions or get them to a pokemon center when that happens. For example…"

He showed him the ball in which his Caterpie resided- "This little fella needs to get some attention and quickly! I think I will risk the journey to Viridian city seeing as you scared off the entire gang there!"

The kid's enthusiasm and awe for the Spartan was evident even to him and he suddenly found himself feeling uncomfortable.

"Yeah they're gone. Better move quick- thanks for the tips kid." But then he remembered the item he found down the road and presented it to the bug-catcher. "Do you know what this is?" He quickly asked him.

"Yes silly, that's a Potion! It heals your pokemon, but it won't help my Caterpie with his poisoning. See you later sir!"

And with that the kid turned around and ran out of the forest, leaving the Spartan alone with a some new incomprehensible knowledge.

The Ralts looked up at him and could feel the confusion. Then- when it thought that he wasn't looking- it giggled. The Spartan looked down at the Ralts, his expression unknown to it and then the creature stopped laughing.

"You could use some more training too." He decided, causing the Pokémon's to gasp in despair.

Giggle at that.

~0~

"_Math is unsurprisingly...distant... when concerning his personal life."_

"_Well what do you know? All those years of training finally paid off! You determined that the Spartan is distant when concerning personal things!"_

"_Don't insult me sergeant, unless you want me to start on you. No, he isn't just distant- he doesn't want to talk. From what I've gathered he absolutely despises any form of social interaction. But he keeps answering my questions…almost makes one wonder just how intense his…conditioning was, hmmm?"_

-Conversation between Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield and drill sergeant Mcgonnary- 23 April 2546.

~0~

**It was very hard to find neutral ground between 'Grrr! Spartan sociopathically ignore everything!' and having the him actually interact with his surroundings. I want to do many trainer battles, but seeing as our hero isn't exactly one to enjoy battling with pokemon…yet…it's very hard to actually come up with some ideas on why to train and how to. But I hope that I pulled it off….took a big step with this chapter.**

**Anyway, will our Spartan remain a predator amongst sheep? Will he find actual challenges? **

**Will he finally be able to tell the difference between someone wanting to hug him and someone wanting to choke him? Tune in for the next chapter and find out!**

**And by the way, if you can come up with a good character then maybe it will make a guest appearance…dun dun dun!**


	9. Dug-in Hostiles pt 1

**Let's see… first of all I want to state something. I am aware of the fact that I post a new chapter every few days- which might seem very fast to some people.  
Some people also say that if you burn too brightly at the beginning, you will burn out. Meaning that if I keep pumping out chapters every other day that I will eventually get the hated writers block- which I do not want. But during my journey to the study-cave called school, I spent at least two hours per day in a train. So even if I learn half of the time, that still leaves me with another hour of free time. I like to spend my time worthwhile because of reasons and I like to think that time spend writing is time spend well. Perhaps this explains why I work so fast. If not, then send me a message and I will be able to explain it in greater detail.**

**Then the fun part. Reviewers! I love reviews. **

**Lay Down Hunter, or Yutyrannus? Did you change your name? No matter, thank you for the kind words. Only your review on chapter 7… was that sarcasm? :O I never really know when people are. Anyway I appreciate that you keep putting up with me :D **

**Primordial Soul- your review made my day when I read it. Your positive feedback really contributes to my motivation as a writer and you are the only one to actually come up with a side-character that I could use. You sir, deserve one of my delicious and famous Internet cookies! As for where I plan on taking the story… I think a long way! I have some things planned out, but not all of them yet.**

**ZombieSlayers: Thanks for pointing that out-I hate it when I make mistakes, but I am very fond of compliments on my language. So I took the last part of your review as a compliment, if you don't mind? :p**

**Thestaradder: it seems that that particular scene is a good contestant for my 'Aaawwww' contest!**

**And our guest. You have pointed out several things, but for the first real time I find myself disagreeing with some of them:**

**The motion tracker: Like Spartan 262 said the sensory system of MJOLNIR uses an advanced form of technology called the quantum mirror. Seeing as on one occasion the motion tracker failed because of a crust of salt, I'd say that although it might be protected against EMP- it won't be protected against the raw forms of energy discharged during the Slipspace incident. You forget that it isn't just EMP- it is also a multitude of many forms of radiation. **

**The rest I can agree with, however I did point out that I plan a lot in advance. So I might have already come up with something that could cover that. Or maybe not, I won't spoil it.**

**And yes, you got me with the walking pace of the Spartan. I know he could walk his way through Kanto in just two hours- but what kind of story would that be? :O I would shame both my reviewers and myself if I rushed the story to its end within two hours. **

**But don't worry; fast paced action and wide open plains are yet to come!**

**The Constitutionalist: a badass title for sure. I'm glad that you like it so much. I don't usually divulge details of my plot ( damn you Spartan 262 :( ) but because of your faithful comment I can tell you- in secret, so the rest close your ears- that I have already decided on a name for our little Ralts!**

~0~

"_Target vessel lost over the cliff sir. Inhabitants unknown, most likely location for them to go to is Pallet Town. Permission to continue the hunt?"_

"_Permission granted."_

Conversation between Operative S and unidentified Rocket member- two days after slipspace incident.

~0~

"Speech" Human speech.

"_Speech"_ Pokemon speech to humans

"**Speech"** Speech between Pokemon

"SPEECH" Pokedex entries

~0~

Ralts lvl 16- significant moves: teleport, confusion and growl

Nidoran lvl 8: significant moves: peck, poison sting

~0~

For some reason the Pokedex could now identify certain 'moves' of Pokemon after he had scanned them with it. For example, the 'moveset' of the Weedle that had been bashed into submission by his Nidoran included 'Poisen sting' and 'String shot' – poison and bug type attacks, respectively.

He found this out the moment that the bug catcher and his Pokemon left the forest, when he thought that he needed some Intel on the used combatants. The best way to get this was by checking the increasingly useful Pokedex. But when he reread the entry for Weedle, he noticed the option 'moves' in the lower left corner. That might be invaluable to his understanding of the world and rules around him- he was no longer left in the dark when it came to fighting. Now he could direct his Pokemon with much more efficiency.

He checked the option for his Nidoran- still inside of its ball- and found out that he too had the potential for launching poison barbs at his opponent.

"Poison sting…" he muttered when he read it. It was still completely unknown to him what kind of chemical or biological make-up the poison used, but the bug catcher didn't seem to think that his pokemon was in mortal danger.

So a combat poison that wasn't necessarily lethal? No matter, he couldn't allow Ralts to get any form of poisoning at all. The little thing was already feeble as it was, let alone when poisoned.

And the potion healed pokemon? Why was he having a hard time believing that? Whoever the previous owner of this particular Potion was- he was either a huge idiot for losing it, or one clever bastard for placing it. While the first scenario would be positive to him- he couldn't possibly imagine that Pokemon trainers could be so stupid.

As for the second scenario…that was the exact reason that he hadn't used it on Ralts yet. What if it was some sort of harmful substance? Back in human space, if one found a bottle laying down the road it was either alcohol or filled with drugs. Not exactly an enticing thought.

So he wouldn't use the poison yet- no matter what the kid had told him. For all he knew the trainer was out for revenge because his pokemon had been poisoned, or because he had lost. No, he would be fine without vague wonder-potions, thank you very much.

But his Nidoran was very tired from the fight now and Ralts…was still tired from its recent fighting. Had it even had something to drink or to eat? He didn't think so.

"When was the last time you ate?" He asked the creature- which was now walking next to him again. It shook its head and gestured at the sky. Probably something like 'when the big bright ball was high in the sky…'

With a shock he remembered that this wouldn't be the first time a creature was talking about bright balls. When ONI had him test their newest translation software in an engagement between UNSC and Covenant forces, he overheard a Grunt that was about to throw a Plasma grenade screaming at the top of its lungs: "Enjoy my bright, blue balls!"

That was particularly disturbing seeing as the alien had only one grenade primed- it had to be some sort of malfunction in the software. Probably because a plasma mortar had nearly vaporized him five minutes prior to that encounter. Those things gave off a hell of a lot of interference.

Anyways, he had shot the grenade in the grunt's hand with a well-placed shot of his sidearm and watched the entire fire-team go up in a blue flash.

So he hoped for Ralts that it wasn't thinking of bright balls, or he would have to teach it some…mind-breaking physics about the sun.

In theory at least. But when it came to actually punishing the little Pokemon with things he always seemed to let it off the easy way. He had no idea why he did that. As a Spartan he was immune to the whole puppy-eyes concept.

Right?

For several minutes they continued walking, encountering two more kids that were out catching bugs. The first one had two Weedle's and one Caterpie- which fought exactly the same as the first ones had- and the second one had two interesting Pokemon.

"Go Metapod!" He yelled as he threw his Poke ball. The capturing device hit the ground and it sprang open. Revealing the form of some sort of green, sickle-shaped cocoon with eyes.

The Spartan frowned as he recognized some of the creature's features, but he couldn't place exactly where he had seen them before.

He decided to give the Pokedex another swing and he pulled it out, whilst at the same time ordering his Ralts to watch the creature, to see if it couldn't see a few exploitable weaknesses.

"METAPOD, THE COCOON POKEMON. IT IS THE EVOLVED VERSION OF CATERPIE AND HAS THE ABILITY TO HARDEN ITS SHELL, MAKING IT MORE RESILIENT TO PHYSICAL ATTACKS. IT CAN'T MOVE ON ITS OWN UNLESS THE OWNER TRAINED IT AS A CATERPIE, IN WHICH CASE IF REMEMBERS HOW TO TACKLE ITS FOES."

The evolved version of Caterpie? What? Some sort of co-evolved subspecies or something? Or perhaps some sort of mutation?

It was a cocoon…the Caterpie had been a caterpillar. Perhaps this one was just a Caterpie that had spun a cocoon around itself. So why use the phrase evolved?

The Metapod simply 'stood' there, watching Ralts with its uncanny eyes.

"Metapod! Use Harden!" The kid yelled and the Pokemon responded, its eyes closing in concentration as its shell hardened.

Physical attacks didn't work? He briefly wondered if the Metapod could withstand a five hundred-kilogram curb stomp but then quickly discarded the idea.

Pokemon were as intelligent as humans, professor Oak had said… and he had no reason to think otherwise. Besides, this one posed no threat to him and was being owned by a trainer. No bloody curb-stomps today.

The Ralts seemed to be done with its investigation from afar and decided to come closer. It kept the Metapod in its sights though, just like he had taught it to.

"You are doing great Metapod! Keep using harden!" The kid yelled at his Pokemon.

Positive feedback when there wasn't anything positive to support? Stupid and unnecessary.

When Ralts was close enough it extended its arm and poked the Metapod in its face. It quickly closed its eyes to prevent them from being hurt, but its assailant wasn't even aiming for the eyes. Ralts was simply poking it in the face without any form of hostile intent.

"Concentrate!" The Spartan said, snapping his Pokemon out of its stupor. _"Ralts ral!"_ The creature said and stepped back- but the repeated poking against the metapod's face had disrupted its balance and it tilted- and fell.

"Pod Metapod!" It cried when it fell, unable to recover its balance.

The Spartan could have hit himself in the face because of all the stupidity around him. His pokemon was poking the other one- which had no offensive capabilities whatsoever- in the face and it had actually worked. Ralts' quirky traits had actually done something worthwhile for once.

"How about finishing it?" He spoke to his pokemon in slow, concentrated sentences. The stupidity of the situation he found himself in was almost too much for him and he needed to calm himself down before he actually got frustrated.

Ralts seemed to concentrate too; but in contrast to the Spartan it was doing so to help express itself. A green aura covered the little thing and it gestured at the Metapod. An invisible force slammed into it from the front and the bug pokemon was slung backwards- right against a tree.

Was he merely imagining things or could he actually see the air distort when Ralts used its psychic abilities?

"No! Metapod!" The bug catcher cried and ran up to his Pokemon, cradling the useless creature in his arms like it was his dearest friend. "You did good Metapod! You can rest now!"

Then he looked at the Spartan again. Since he had entered the forest, these people were doing nothing but bombarding him with questions and- when he wouldn't answer them- challenged him to Pokemon fights.

Why did they even care who he was, what he was doing here or what he was wearing and why he was carrying guns? The Marines in the UNSC gave him odd looks and avoided him whenever possible- unless when on the battlefield, in which case he was like a lantern to marine-flies- but they never asked him questions. And that was the way he liked best.

"Alright! Let's see you beat my next pokemon! Go, Kakuna!" He yelled and threw his last Poke ball.

The super-soldier (who was expecting some kind of mean looking SOB to appear) felt a twang of disappointment when he beheld the next opponent.

It looked like the Metapod- but this one was one was yellow and it had large, black eyes.

'Let me guess…' He thought, 'the evolved form of Weedle.' He didn't need to check the Pokedex for this one- he had discovered a pattern. These creatures- these bug pokemon- were all over this forest and these kids were actively trying to become bug-trainers. He knew this because they spouted the facts about bugs and themselves whenever possible.

So the ecosystem in this forest was dedicated to bugs. And seeing as this one resembled the previous patterns, this had to be the developed form of a Weedle.

"Kakuna! Use Poison sting!" The kid yelled, nearly causing the Ralts by surprise.

But not the Spartan. The instant he concluded that the Kakuna was the Weedle's next stage in life, he knew that it would have some sort of venomous ability.

"Teleport to its rear!" He barked as soon as the kid started ordering his bug to attack. Ralts thankfully didn't waste any time with hesitating and immediately enveloped itself with the green aura. Then it disappeared- an instance before the hail of needles hit the air where it had been before it teleported.

"What?" The bug catcher yelled and growled with frustration. "Kakuna! Turn around, quickly!"

Too late. "Ralts, blast it" He calmly said and watched with a faint sense of satisfaction as the Kakuna got hit by the near-invisible attack. But then, much to his surprise, the Kakuna actually fell backwards and fainted. Unlike the Metapod- which had tried to get up again- this bug simply gave up the moment the attack hit him.

It was most likely a poison and bug type- seeing as the Ralts' attack had an above-average effect on it. That and the fact that it was spewing poisonous needles whenever possible.

"No! Kakuna!" The bug catcher yelled and angrily called its pokemon back. "What kind of pokemon is that? I have never seen one before!"

Perhaps if he simply opened his eyes and realized that bugs weren't everything in life he would have.

"Unknown-" The Spartan said and walked past the kid. "We're moving out."

Ralts didn't need anything else to get it moving. It looked less exhausted every time it used its abilities and he could actually start to see some progress in the training. When the kid was well out of range, the Spartan spoke again. "Hungry? Let's get you something to eat."

~0~

Of course she was hungry! Couldn't the demon hear the noises her tummy made? She was hungry for a long time now! She could really use a snack. And something to drink. Some sleep…a nice bath. And a warm nest to curl up in and sleep. And some companions with whom she could actually converse.

But the demon wouldn't understand her anyways, so she simply nodded like a good little girl.

"Good." He said and looked around. Then he simply walked off- but not before releasing the Nidoran from his ball and leaving him with her.

"You two behave!" He told them and left. As soon as the demon had turned its back to them and started walking, she turned to the purple Pokemon and hugged him- careful not to touch his poisonous horn.

"**I missed you!"** She said. Then she realized that she was actually touching another creature out of herself and she quickly let it go. "**He doesn't talk much…"** She said, hoping that that would be sufficient to justify her actions.

"**I missed you too!"** The boy replied to her surprise. "**It gets lonely inside of that ball. But never mind that- what are you going to do about it?"**

Do about it? About being lonely? Or about not being able to talk with a demon?

She started to formulate a reply that wouldn't betray her ignorance, but then she felt the emotions that the Nidoran was experiencing. There was no curiosity in there, no intent to solve a problem.

It was a sense of panic and fear.

~0~

As the Spartan was walking through the dark forest, he was searching around the trees in an attempt to identify something edible. Fruits, vegetables or perhaps living creatures that he could hunt down and kill. Perhaps Ralts and Nidoran wouldn't eat other pokemon and perhaps they did. It mattered little seeing as they needed to get something in their stomachs.

But to no avail; all he saw were trees filled with Kakuna; the gold-brown insects were absolutely littering the trees. Which was weird, because he hadn't actually seen them. Come to think about it, the part of the forest where had had beaten the bug catchers was devoid of any form of Kakuna.

It had also been very loud- filled with noises and chattering of bugs and other creatures.

So why was this area so silent? Was it because it was a different ecosystem, where only Kakuna lived?

Or simply hang around in their trees, showing no signs of life whatsoever?

~0~

"**What is wrong?"** Ralts asked the scared boy, not really sure whether she wanted to know or not.

"**Be quiet!" **he snapped at her in a low voice. That hurt her feelings! Why would he be cross with her. She hadn't done anything wrong! That was just plain mean.

She felt tears threatening to break out and she fought as hard as she could to keep them back. She wouldn't cry because some stupid Nidoran insulted her! The demon had taught her better than that.!

Just as she was about to give the purple pokemon a sharp remark, it continued talking. **"Can you hear them?"** The poison-type said, causing new waves of complicated feelings in Ralts' little body. What was he hearing that could cause him so much distress? His feelings of fear were now bordering on full-blown panic and she knew that he was trying his best to control himself.

"**What are you hearing?"** She replied, lowering her voice as well.

"**The Kakuna…"** The Nidoran said and slowly looked around the area. His ears were in a constant blur of motion, turning from one direction to another without pause.

"**What is with the Kakuna?"** The Ralts said, a feeling of dread slowly rising in her stomach. She didn't know much of the local Pokemon here- the Nidoran did. He was native to this place and she was not. "**I can't hear them. Your hearing-"**

The rest of her sentence was cut off as the Nidoran interrupted her. "**Me neither!"**

~0~

Ah, there! In the top of a very large tree- a dozen meters ahead- he could spot the red distinctive shapes of apples. There had to be at least four dozen of them- enough for Ralts and Nidoran to recover valuable nutrients that they might have lost during the journey.

The tree was very large- easily twice as wide as he was. It was also kind of…separated from the rest of the trees. Curious. Still, he could easily climb up and grab the apples.

But they all hung amidst hordes of Kakuna and he wasn't too sure on how the ecosystem would react if he simply disturbed them to grab the apples. Not that it mattered to him, he simply wanted those apples and he would get them. He covered the remaining few meters and stopped at the base of the tree.

There had to be at least three Kakuna for every apple he could spot. He would try to not disturb them too much- they were as intelligent as humans after all; who knew how they might react?

~0~

"**I don't understand!" **Ralts replied, hoping that the sadness in her tone wasn't too obvious. "**Why can't you hear them? Your ears are much better than mine!"**

"**Are you crazy?"** The Nidoran asked. Again she tried to bite back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "**I am just not from around…"**

The Nidoran gasped and stepped closer to her. "**That explains it! If you don't know the Kakuna…then you can't possibly know!"**

"**Know what!" **Ralts urged, wanting the Pokemon to finish already. "**What do I need to know?"**

The Nidoran seemed to hesitate for a while before finally answering. "**They…hatch.**"

~0~

Something was wrong. He could feel it and he wasn't happy about it. He looked around. He was high up in the tree; having improvised a carrying bag from a bug catcher's net that he had found lying on the ground. He didn't know why someone would just leave one lying around, but that didn't matter much. With the net he could carry as much as a dozen apples, but the weird feeling in his gut didn't disappear.

What was wrong? Was he being hunted? If only his motion tracker worked. The tree was still covered with the Kakuna, the apples were good to go and both of his Pokemon had each other covered. So what was wrong?

Then it hit him what was wrong. Forests were usually so noisy with the many birds and other critters that loudly proclaimed their love and need to reproduce that it was hard to concentrate in those areas. This area was too silent- he had thought so earlier, but he didn't give it anymore thought. Now however, he did. So why was this area so silent?

He slowly moved his head from side to side. These Kakuna…were awfully still. If they were a cocoon…then what were they actually morphing into? He grabbed his Pokedex- hoisted the net with apples to his shoulder and activated the button.

Immediately he wished he hadn't.

"KAKUNA IS A TRANSITIAL STAGE BETWEEN WEEDLE AND BEEDRILL. THEY REMAIN INACTIVE UNTIL THEY EVOLVE INTO DEADLY BEEDRILLS AND HATCH- THIS PROCESS WILL BE SPED-UP IF THEY ARE DISTURBED."

Again with the evolving instead of developing. So these things lay dormant until they turned into…beedrills? What the hell were those? A combination of bee and drill… that couldn't be good.

He suddenly became aware of every motion he made- almost zero though. He shifted his eight from his right leg to his left and slowly backed off. These things were with enough to swarm through the entire forest- he should have never left Ralts and Nidoran alone. If the Kakuna hatched and became bees, then they were in big trouble.  
The branch on which he placed his rear leg suddenly gave way and snapped. Adrenaline flowed through his systems as he nearly fell. In a reflex he grabbed a nearby branch and accidently shook it.

The combined noise of the breaking and shaking branches was enough for the closest Kakuna to softly twitch. Just barely and very faint, but present nonetheless.

The super-soldier held his breath and tried to blend in with his background. That didn't work very well when you were a white seven-feet tall Spartan and your background was a grey tree-trunk.

For a moment it seemed that the Kakuna would believe that there wasn´t anything to worry about, but then another began to vibrate and another. The entire tree was now rustling with the sounds of shaking exoskeletons. He didn't feel like sticking around to behold the wonder of nature and jumped out of the tree- from more than ten meters high. He landed on the ground and rolled once to dissipate the force behind his jump and then forced his body to a hold.

Crap. He had forgotten about that.

This large apple-tree wasn't the only one covered with the Kakuna- there were some other trees and it looked like they were a bit faster with their evolution. The outermost layer of Kakuna began to shine- actually shine- with white light. His visor polarized and he could see the shapes of the cocoons bend a little before their backs split open. A pair of wings appeared from resulting opening and slowly the back of a new Pokemon became visible- ten times.

He had seen enough to know where this was going. He had disturbed the bee-nest and his Pokemon were out there, all alone. If these things reached them…there wouldn't be much left to save.

And it would truly be his fault. In order to prevent that, he would have to reach them before these creatures did. He unslung his assault rifle and turned towards where he had come from. A large shape flew past his sight and he could make out a large stinger on a yellow abdomen.

These things were at least one meter tall! Talk about killer-bees. He started running, taking large powerful strides that soon propelled him to a speed of at least twenty miles per hour. The Beedrills were now flying all around him and he could make out more features as he shot them with his MA5C carbine. Two large, sleek arms with enormous stingers for hands. Large red eyes that glistered with deadly intent-antenna's that could pick up his movements and sounds with ease.

But their chitinous armor was no match for his bullets and soon the ground behind him was littered with the remains of dead Beedrills. Not that he stopped to watch- he was too busy navigating the thick trees and knocking the monsters in front of him away with the butt of his rifle.

Left right left- there they were! Nidoran was jumping at a Beedrill that had somehow split up from the larger part of the group to attack them. Ralts was simultaneously fighting two of the swarming creatures- alternating between blasting one with its psychic power and pushing the other away from flanking Nidoran.

As amusing as it was to watch them fight these Pokemon, he had to get them out of here or else they would be overwhelmed. In one fluid move he grabbed Nidoran's ball, activated it to recall the creature and put it away again. By that time his momentum had carried him close enough for him to reach out and grab Ralts with his other arm. Nidoran was now safe and he held Ralts in his hand, almost safe.

He was careful not to squeeze to hard as he navigated through the swarming animals. With only one hand available for shooting he was still satisfied to see that everytime he pulled the trigger another Beedrill died.

He was forced to take alternative measures in his close combat, choosing to use his elbows and legs to slam the attacking creatures away from his helmet. They couldn't possibly hurt him but they could impair his vision and he couldn't allow that.

In the distance he could see another kid, this time an even younger one with blue shorts and a yellow shirt, wearing a blue hat. He didn't know about the threat and he was in no condition to run away from such ferocious and fast predators.

The kid was a liability, a snag in his escape plan. If he took him with him then he wouldn't be able to fire his weapon and defend himself and Ralts. He would be forced to trust on his agility and speed alone; hoping that that would be enough for them to reach the exit. He shouldn't take the youngster- wouldn't take the youngster.

As he ran by the kid he reached out and yanked him off his feet, placing him over his right shoulder without breaking stride. "Hey…what!" He was able to say before he noticed the multiple dozens of swarming beedrills chasing them. "Shit!" He screamed and wrapped his free arm around the Spartan's neck in fear.

Carrying both Ralts and the child might prevent him from using his weapon, but as a Spartan- and as a soldier- he couldn't leave a single human behind for monsters to tear apart. He would strive to save as much humans as he could- even if it meant putting himself in harm's way. Because that- he had learned long ago- was what being a soldier was all about. Sacrificing yourself so that civilians could live without fear and pain.

But that didn't mean he valued the human above Ralts and- by extend- Nidoran. He would put himself in danger for the kid but not his Pokemon.

The additional weight did nothing to weigh him down and he darted between trees and obstructions without any difficulty. After two minutes of running from the swarm he noticed something in the distance. He hit his visor's zoom and a gate just like the one he had entered from sprung into view. Three police-officers were standing at the gate, directing civilians to get inside.

Within five seconds he got into hearing range and he could hear the people screaming. The swarm was in hot pursuit and he realized that- if the gate let to another town- people would be endangered.

He needed to make a stand and drive off the Beedrills. Luckily holding lines on his own against overwhelming odds was one of his specialties. The moment that the police-men and women saw him they beckoned for him to get to safety.

They should watch and learn.

In one second he dumped the kid and Ralts inside the gate and turned around, his assault rifle at the ready.

"I don't know who or what you are or where you came from," one of the officers said, "but I see that you got guns and that is all I care about."

A second officer- a woman this time- stepped forwards while shouting. "I need all the fire and flying pokemon here at the double! Any psychic or ice pokemon too, get to it!"

She threw a Pokemon ball in the air- as did the two other officers- and a total of three Pokemon appeared. They looked like dogs- red and white dogs with pieces of fur sticking out from their heads. They barked and growled at the approaching force.

Those were probably the weaknesses of the Beedrills- it looked like this wasn't the first swarm that they had to drive off. His appearance had turned the humans' luck around though: his Ralts was a psychic pokemon and he…well, he was a Spartan. Enough said.

His combat instincts were working in overdrive as his mind processed information at an amazing speed. "Ralts, get behind those dogs and concentrate on supporting our flanks. Don't let any of them inside the building!"

Then he turned to the officers and let his professional eye gaze over their formation: it was sloppy and uncoordinated. They needed to get their shit together.  
"Your ranks are weak and left open to exploits. You there, you get behind him and you take up the left flank. The other left one. Now you two crouch and open fire!"

Thankfully the policemen and – women had some form of training. Without protest they assumed the combat position he had thought up for them and two of them pulled out sidearms- classic six-shooters.

He had already begun picking off targets one at a time while ordering the undisciplined officers to take up their positions. By the time they could order their pokemon to attack the swarm and open fire themselves, he had already shot fifteen bugs out of the air.

"Use flamethrower!" The officers yelled and as one, their Pokemon opened their maws and a torrent of flame exited their throats. It might have shocked him at an earlier time; but right now he was shooting giant bees with stingers for arms out of the air and his psychic pokemon was blasting the flanking monstrosities out of the air with its mind. So fire-spewing dogs didn't really seem that odd right now.

While the Pokemon did a decent job of taking out the approaching swarms, the police-officers were lousy shots and their reloading times were taking so long that he could have reloaded seven times in the time it took them to. Eventually they all emptied their clips at the same time and the firepower of their three-man team was completely removed as they all started reloading their revolvers at the same time.

Lucky for them, they had a genetically enhanced super-soldier in their midst that _did_ know how to engage a superior force. The firepower put out by the Spartan was too powerful, too well-aimed and soon the ground was covered with bodies. After a minute of fighting, the numbers of the Beedrill were thus exhausted that they choose to cease their attack. The last survivors flew off and he let them get away without hesitation. He might need the ammo in later encounters and it was only stupid to shoot the retreating forces in this case.

The silence that followed was only disturbed by the heavy panting of the pokemon and the police force that had been fighting. Funny, he had yet to break a sweat.

He turned to face the team and thought about chastising them for their incompetence. He quickly discarded the idea, however. It would only cause more interaction and he had no desire to talk longer than he needed. So while the three humans were gazing at him- the kid was still cowering with his hands covering his head- he beckoned for Ralts to fall behind him.

As he walked towards the exit- wanting to get out of the forest ASAP- one of the officers suddenly yelled "Halt!"

He stopped and turned to face him.

"Who are you? Where did you get those weapons?" He said. If only the Spartan was able to determine emotions by listening to underlying tones; he might have known whether this man was threatening him or not. Now he couldn't simply shoot him- he was obligated to respond or he was the one initiating hostilities.

"Just a passing traveler. I am not from around." And that would have to suffice; he wasn't planning in divulging any more Intel. He picked up the Ralts- who was waiting for him with its arms stretched out- and exited the forest.

The moment he exited the structure connecting the forest to the city, he was bombarded by dozens of questions from all the people that had been forced to flee Viridian forest.

"What happened?"

"Who are you?"

"Is that a gun?"

"Are we save?"

"Who disturbed the Beedrill!"

He only responded with a brief "All clear." and continued moving towards this Pewter City. The officers would have to explain the situation to the scared civilians- if they were able to do so.

He picked up a decent marching speed and walked down the road without stopping. He needed to get both Ralts and Nidoran to a pokemon Center once again and he needed to get something to drink. Between getting knocked out by the Slipspace drive and his fight with the Beedrill he had been forced to process and move through an entire new world. Having spent as much as two days like that, he felt a bit thirsty.

During their trip, Ralts was getting increasingly uneasy. He knew that the Pokemon could sense emotions and feelings from surrounding creatures and that it would get disturbed whenever those were negative. But he saw nothing out there and he couldn't do anything but simply keep walking down the road and keeping his eye out.

But he began to feel it to: the weird sensation of approaching danger, the faint sense of trouble about to raise its ugly head. He thought about the Viridian city and how it had been terrorized by a biker gang. What trouble could this city be in? What could possibly be upsetting his Pokemon?

When he arrived at the end of the road, he noticed that the trees to his left flank had all but disappeared and made way for a large wall of stone. It stretched for at least three hundred meters before bending to the right. In the corner of that stone wall lay Pewter city. A natural protection against flanking maneuvers- but also a weakness against attacking from above. The enemy would be able to get to higher ground if they fought hard enough and then they could rain death down below.

The Spartan was aware that the mood in this village already seemed…darker than that of Viridian city. The people here were staring at him with weird expressions.

The town of pewter city could be a relatively cozy spot: lying safe in the stone arms, having enough buildings to support around half a hundred people, this should be a nice community. So what was making these people so grim?

Ralts became increasingly upset and before they reached the pokemon center, he actually had to stop and prevent it from falling off. "What is it!" He asked the pokemon. Much to his surprise, it didn't respond and kept moaning, wiggling back and forth and trying to get away.

Enough was enough. "Relax! I saved you from a hundred giant bugs with three stingers each! Don't you think I can protect you?" He asked it. That shut it up for a while.

While he was walking towards the red building that was the Pokemon hospital, he noticed some distinctive buildings. One of them had a blue roof, another one had a large brown roof. In the distance he spotted a large museum.

He entered the pokemon center and noticed that there were two nurses already working hard to serve a few other trainers and pokemon. He mentally sighed and walked to the reception counter. It took two minutes for the Nurse to appear, but when she did her eyes inmediatly dialeted.

Why was that?

"I know you…" She hissed and looked around, hoping that nobody had heard her. Then she gave him a sudden smile and said out loud: "Welcome to the pokemon Center, how may I help you?"

He cocked one eyebrow in surprise but didn't comment on her sudden change of behavior. "I have two pokemon that need healing; one of them inside and one of the outside a poke ball."

"Sure!" The nurse said and reached out, the palm of her hand aimed upwards. While she did she whispered at him again. "My sister told me that you were coming!"

Then her hand stopped moving and she asked him for his poke balls. He gave her Nidoran's and picked up Ralts. He set it on the counter and leaned forwards, his next words only audible for the Psychic Pokemon. "Act normally, something is wrong."

Despite its problems, the Ralts was still alble to get its mind together and it nodded. Then it yawned and pointed at its gaping mouth, before rubbing her stomach. Clever little thing, to attract the attention to such a small detail while he could do his work.

"What is wrong?" He whispered to the Nurse.

"Please wait for a moment!" She said loudly and put Nidoran's ball inside some machine. While it was doing whatever it was that it did, she continued her speech. "The city is in lockdown, nobody gets out. We don't know why or how!"

Lockdown? Had enemy soldiers cut off the city's supplies or something? That wasn't a big problem- he would just smash it.

"I can't say more, you will just have to see for yourself." She whispered and looked around again, totally not suspicious or anything. "Here are your pokemon back sir!" She added with a loud voice. "Your other pokemon will just have to eat and drink something before moving on. It is famished.

Famished? Of course, he had completely forgotten about that. He grabbed the net with apples that he had taken with him and untied it. He took out four apples and released Nidoran from his ball. The Spartan pretended to not see the many gazes and hear the many whispers while he was busy and instead focused on feeding his Pokemon- which wasn't hard at all. Both of them immediately fell upon the fruit and devoured it within half a minute.

Hungry little buggers. He took out another four apples and left the other ones with Joy. "Give these to the trainers here," He said. If the town truly was in lockdown then these people would be starving- he didn't need the remaining pieces of fruit and his own pokemon had enough to be satisfied.

"Thank you sir!" The Nurse said, obviously surprised by his gesture. "I will see to it immediately!"

While she was moving to spread the food, he looked at his Pokemon and decided that he would scout ahead on his own. When he had determined the best course of action, he would free this town and ask for some more directions- his trail ended here, at pewter city.

"Alright you two," He said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "I don't like what I am seeing here and I will scout out ahead. You two find somewhere to hide in this center and I will meet you in fifteen mikes."

The two creatures simply stared at him, without moving an inch. It occurred to him that they might not have understood him completely/ "Fifteen minutes." Now they nodded.

"Take care of each other while I'm gone!" He added and turned around. He was certain that his pokemon could stay out of trouble long enough for him to find it on his own.

He was sure that it would take very long for him to actually find out what was going on in this town. He would need to ask around, get people to answer his questions and then he would still need to get a bead on his target. After that he would terminate if possible and proceed to clear the city of potiential hostiles. Who they might be, he didn't know.

More bikers? Mercenaries? Soldiers? Maybe he could simply find a way to sneak past them and move on.

Whatever the case, he had not expected for the cause of the entire ruckus to be actually waiting just outside waiting for him. The moment he stepped out of the Pokemon Center, the faint humming sound that he had though to pick up on his way to the city had gotten louder. He moved eastwards, as a wooden sign nailed to a wall near the eastern exit had told him to. He walked past a last house and the full view of the outer passage was revealed to him.

No, no no! This couldn't be? How could they be here, they couldn't be!

At the east exit of Pewter city, roughly a hundred meters ahead of him, was the distinctive wavering form of an energy shield.

Pewter city was blocked off by a giant energy wall. But, much to his surprise and confusion, this shield wasn't colored like the usual deployable covenant shields or even the shielding of the Jackels. So either this was some form of experimental shielding, or…

Or what?

~0~

"_I want to know, where did he go"_

"_I don't know, really!"_

"_You are lying. I can see it in your face. You are afraid of him- worried because he is strange and new. But you are also afraid of me- for the same reasons and the fact that you think that you know who I work for. You fear for your involvement in these events and…you worry about a loved one? Is that it?"_

"_What…how…"_

"_Judging by the way your eyes softened but your mouth hardened, I would say a little kid. Daughter…or son? No wait, both!"_

"_How did you-"_

"_Should I continue? Tell me where to find him!"_

-Conversation between Operative S and anonymous aide in professor Oak's laboratory, two days after Pelican crash.

~0~

**Oh no! A giant energy shield is blocking the entry to Route 3! How could this have happened, what is going on?**

**Pllllllllllllllllot twiiiiiist!**

**Has anyone else heard of the new pokemon series called Pokemon: origins?**

**The concept is amazing but I fear that they are rushing it a bit. In the first episode ( spoilers) Red already fights Brock in the gym!**

**My story took 8 chapters to get to pewter city. Perhaps I am missing a point, though.**

**Anyway, don't forget to Review and Fave and Follow and everything! I have recently reached the 30 reviews and I plan on accumulating more! MORE!**

**Until next time.**


	10. Dug-in Hostiles pt 2

**So Pokemon: origins is only four episodes? That teaches me for watching only one and then immediately drawing conclusions. Oh well, doesn't matter. SpartanRedAsh when it comes to the protagonist, right?**

**For the record, I appreciate every new follower and faver. Right now I have around twenty of both and I can only hope that the number will increase!**

**Also, I have reached the average of 4 reviews per chapter. Let's see if we can't raise this! And to do this, I do need more reviews. So if you are new or haven't done so yet, feel free to simply leave some feedback, information or even a small Side-character. **

**To the people that did review: you are awesome. Period.**

**Monsieur Constitutionalist: Déjà vu? I wouldn't know…déjà vu? I wouldn't know… Any case, the situation will be solved… or not… in this chapter! Thanks for the compliments in any case.**

**I think a certain Spartan-reviewer forgot to actually sign in as a Spartan. But that doesn't matter; said reviewer is our Guest :D Thanks for the awesome feedback man; I see that my grammar still needs a bit more tweaking…262**

**Nothing more to talk about for the moment…I think.**

~0~

"_Don't underestimate the power of the operative's gift. Her ability to read people like an open book has been invaluable to many interrogation sessions in our hideout. Since we started using her, the need for torture has been reduced to only personal needs. She can peer right into your soul and tell you your deepest fears and nightmares. And she does it with a smile."_

"_So why send her on this scouting mission? Why not one of our designated recon units?"_

"_Because a ship is piloted by a human being. And this human is new to Kanto- we need to subdue him or her before they can inform someone of our operations. You are dismissed!"_

"_Sir!"_

-conversation between anonymous Rocket member and Officer.

~0~

"Speech" Human speech.

"_Speech"_ Pokemon speech to humans

"**Speech"** Speech between Pokemon

"SPEECH" Pokedex entries

~0~

Ralts lvl 17- significant moves: teleport, confusion and growl

Nidoran lvl 11: significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick.

~0~

Ralts chewed on her piece of apple as she let her eyes glide over the situation. The demon had told them to stay out of sight, but the raw torrent of emotions and feelings that flooded the room were too interesting for her to simply ignore them.

"**Why is trainer gone?"** Nidoran asked, confusion clearly evident in his underlying tone. The kid was a bit dazzled by the recent developments.

"**The city is bad. He wants to find out why…" **She responded between bites. How he knew that the city was bad was beyond her. He couldn't feel anything with that weird mind of his, right? The only things that he proved susceptible to were faint psychic fields that they had encountered on their way here. Or rather, she had encountered and then deflected. She didn't know what the demon had done to shield himself.

"**So why does he look so different from the rest of the humans?"** The Nidoran asked. He had already finished his dinner and was very curious to what was going on.

"**I think he is a demon-"**

"**What!"**

"**- but don't worry, he is a good demon. He takes care of us right?"**

"**Why do you even think he is a demon!?"** Nidoran sounded scared and she knew that she shouldn't have shared her thoughts with the kid.

"**Well… he looks different from the rest, right?"** She responded, hoping that the boy wouldn't notice her own doubts. The truth was that her trainer was still completely unknown to her. Both his mind and her body had yet to be revealed to her and she doubted that it would happen- his second skin was very tough.

"**But a demon? They don't exist!" **The Pokemon continued. What? Everyone knew that demons existed! Silly boy. Had his parents taught him nothing?

"**Well, he is!"** Ralts continued. The Nidoran opened his mouth to reply, but instead he turned his ears to the door. Why would he do tha-

And then she felt it too. Someone was entering- someone with malicious intent, someone that felt like he owed this entire town. The feelings and emotions were so new to her, she couldn't understand who this could be. Every human she had encountered until now was either nice or bad- but the kind of bad that was driven by basic needs like hunger and thirst. This human was complicated bad, his feelings were an uncanny collection of twisted thoughts and senses.

"**Run!"** Nidoran said and pushed Ralts, trying to get her to move faster. Silly creature! Like she could run as fast as he could! Besides, she couldn't move at all now. She was frozen to the table- unable to get her body to do what she wanted it to.

The man that entered the building got noticed by the other trainers inside. They all rose and tried to order their pokemon to attack him. But he pulled out two strange metal tubes and twin thunderclaps filled the room. The humans that had tried to attack him screamed as their legs were suddenly penetrated with metal projectiles. Blood sprayed the walls behind them when they fell, clutching their bleeding limbs.

_He hadn't even tried to kill them!_ She realized. That thought was even more frightening- that he was able to disable so many with so little effort.

He walked up to the counter and noticed her standing there. Nidoran was gone and she was alone, alone with this monster.

"My my, look at what he have here!" He said, his voice sounding like something that could haunt young Pokemon in their dreams for months. But not her! She was brave; her demon had taught her so!

If only she could move her frozen body, though. The man walked closer and she noticed how he looked bulkier than the average human- his body was covered in weird plates that looked very though. On his head he had some sort of weird leave- it looked a bit like how her mother had always said the sun looked like. Bulbous in the middle in with a thin circle around it.

Ralts couldn't help but notice a weird symbol on his chest. What did it mean? Her demon would want the information about this mean human!

She was so busy with trying to make sense of all the information that she didn't notice that the man was actually talking to hr.

"I haven't seen you before, have I?" He grinned and extended his paw to her- he was trying to catch her!

She had to move, if she didn't then she would be captured by this monster! Move, come on move!

It was no use, her body was frozen with fear and she couldn't get her muscles to contract or relax. Damnit! After coming so far with the training that her trainer put her through, she was still a scared child! That knowledge made her mad. She thought that the demon could help her; that he could make her strong. And here she was, abandoned by those that she had come to trust. There was nothing left for her to surrender and accept the path that fate had thought out for her.

She watched the human reach out for her and hoped that whatever was going to happen to her, it would be quick.

And quick it was: when the man's hand was only a few inches away from her, a purple flash appeared from the corner of her eye. The human saw it too and tried to counter the attack, but he was too slow.

Nidoran slammed into the monster's leg, bashing his horn violently against it.

The man growled and with a flash, he had aimed his gun at Nidoran- who was still dazed from his hit against his leg. Why hadn't his horn penetrated the human's flesh?

Ralts winced as she saw her friend come to her aid; to think that she had almost given up hope!

"**Move!"** The boy yelled at her all the while trying to snap to attention. She realized that the man was about to kill her friend!

"_Take care of each other."_ The demon had told her that both she and Nidoran needed to take care of each other- that they needed to protect one-another. But here she was, frozen with fear and Nidoran about to get killed by the monster and his thunder-sticks.

It wasn't fair! They were both so young, what had they ever done to hurt this man, why did he need to hurt them! Her entire life was upside down and she couldn't believe why! First her parents had disappeared, leaving her to the mercy of the ruthless forest. Then the two vicious Pokemon had tried to maul her to death. Everyone was so mean to each other in this world…but she had just appeared in it. Her mind trembled if she even tried to think about the corruption that had permeated her existence.

She had even failed the one creature that had cared for her since her parents had left her. The demon- he had saved her multiple times, he had cared for her and protected her. He had fed her when she grew hungry and carried her when she grew tired. He had spent his valuable time in this existence by taking her under his wing and how did she return his kindness? By giving up. By allowing her friend to die in front of her without her doing anything to save him.

That wasn't how her parents had taught her! She should try to save everyone around her that she cared for, to protect those that were important!

And the demon…he had taught her how to do it. To never give up and never surrender- what was she even doing? She needed to fight!

A sudden clarity filled illuminated her soul, filled every fiber of her being as she realized that she could really do something about this situation!

First the needed to protect her friend- the Nidoran boy. She concentrated on him and how he should be safe. Then she linked that intent with the little nub of psychic power in her mind and channeled her power through her body.

Her surroundings shifted and disappeared as she became ethereal for the micro-second that it took to teleport to Nidoran and take him with her. She heard a loud bang! But she was already gone. She tore Nidoran from his plane of existence and linked him to her presence- and then she felt her power slip away. But that was ok, it was alright. Every time she teleported somewhere her sub consciousness canceled out her powers to prevent her from going astray. It was a defensive-mechanism: she and Nidoran had both reached their destination.

Safety. But where was that?

~0~

The Spartan pushed his emotions and doubts deep inside of himself and a cold, hard rationality took control over his mind. Thoughts and sensations passed through his nervous-system with incomprehensible speed and he processed what lay before him faster than humans could shift their eyeballs.

The covenant couldn't be here; he hadn't seen any ships in orbit and there weren't any reports of strange monsters burning people down- monsters that weren't Pokemon. This planet possessed strange technology that even the Covenant couldn't possibly develop and this shield didn't look like any form of shielding he had ever seen. It was square, not round and burned a bright yellow-red tint- as opposed to the blue and purple that the covenant used.

So it wasn't covenant, it had to be native to this planet. And he knew that, because he spotted several large tubes extending from the shimmering field. They were wired up at the rocks and led all the way back to Pewter city. The reason that he hadn't spotted them before was because they were so integrated with the stone walls that surrounded the town that he hadn't given the strange formations any thought.

So who placed it here? And how would she shut it down?

He walked up to the field and took a good look. It didn't look like it could burn like plasma did, but shielding normally dropped after a sustained amount of fire and pressure.

He aimed his rifle at the central point and squeezed of a long salvo. Thirty rounds went into the field and twenty rounds were deflected in random trajectories- one of them flew past his helmet so close that his shields flared.

At this rate he would have to fire a dozen mags in the field and it still wouldn't drop. He needed powerful plasma weaponry and the only weapons that utilized plasma on this entire planet were- as far as he knew- locked inside the molten hull that was his dropship.

So no plasma to take the shield down and ballistics were deflected.

No matter, he had bludgeoned many Elites to death with both his weapons, body and random objects like rocks and other covenant soldiers. Elite heads were very adapted at breaking the skulls of other elite heads.

He formed his hands into fists and- planning to deliver a lightning-fast combo at the wall- struck the energy shield.

The moment his hand touched the shimmering field a hammer-blow struck him in his midsection. He felt his body being flung back and he skidded to a halt several meters away. It took him a few seconds to recover from the dizziness and pain that filled his head and he slowly got on his feet.

His shields held steady at sixty-seven percent and slowly recharged. Whatever this thing was, it had somehow absorbed the force behind his blow and delivered it right back at him. This had to be noncovenant tech.

That left him with two options- climb over tall stone wall to his dies and see if he couldn't get around the shimmering field, or he could follow those cables back to Pewter city and find out where they were plugged in.

He needed more information and he couldn't simply leave these people in their current situation.

He recovered the assault rifle that had been torn from his grasp and he kept it at the ready while he moved back to the town .The game was on.

~0~

She was drifting in blackness. She couldn't see where she was or even who she was. Her body felt heavy and exhausted and she didn't sense Nidoran anywhere. The teleport must have gone wrong somehow- she must have messed up . Even in her pitiful attempt to save those that she cared for she still only worsened them!

"**Ralts!"** A voice said. It sounded awfully familiar, but it didn't matter. That voice was dead- just like its owner.

"**Ralts! Listen to me!"** It said. Why did it insist on trying to contact her?

"**Ralts… the lights are out!"**

What? The lights are out? What did that mean?

A sudden flash of light illuminated the room and she squinted her eyes, trying to preserve her vision.

"**Ralts, you teleported us to the topside of the building. We are still in the pokemon center and we are still in danger!"**

Oh. So that was why it was dark! Relieve washed away every negative feeling she had and her mind was clear to think yet again. "**What now?**"

The familiar purple shape of Nidoran appeared next to her. His features were grim and she could feel the fear and doubts that lay underneath them. "**We need to get back to our trainer!"**

Get back to the demon? That was nonsense. They couldn't endanger their trainer like that! Besides, how were they going to get out of there? They didn't even know where they were and the Monster was out there somewhere, with his lightning-quick skills and deadly thunder-sticks. They couldn't hide from him.

Actually, if there was one creature out there that could defeat this Monster it had to be the demon. If they could somehow lure the monster to the demon than they could vanquish him together! But how were they going to do that? The moment they stepped out of the center, they would be caught. It would be best if they simply stayed in one place for now.

"**No, the monster will catch us if we try. We have to wait for the demon to get us!"**

"**How are you so sure that he hasn't left us?" **The Nidoran asked her softly. Now she realized what had been eating away at him that entire time; why he hadn't actually interacted with the demon more and why he was so confused all the time: he didn't trust him. He didn't know what he was but more importantly- he didn't know who he was.

"**He promised me that he would keep me safe… some time ago."** She said. Her words were aimed at Nidoran's doubts, but they served to ease hers as well. "**He saved my life multiple times and he has cared for me- for us- from the beginning. He will eventually leave this world, yes-"**

The boy shifted uneasily when she said that; obviously put off by her words.

"**- but he has something that he needs to do before he leaves. The most important to him…is finding what he is looking for. Then he will leave. Until then, he will protect us."**

"**But he will leave!"** Nidoran cried out, his voice filled with anguish and tears about to fall from his eyes. "**He will leave us! Why? He took us in his care and now he will leave us?"**

He was so upset, his sadness was so great that Ralts couldn't help but feel his emotions like they were her own. He had struck the blow where it hurt the most- where her doubts and fears were the greatest. The demon wasn't there forever- after he had found whatever it was he was looking for, he would leave them. He would go away and it wouldn't even matter to him.

Because only demons felt nothing.

A sudden 'clang!' echoed through the room and both Pokemon instantly froze. They had been too loud!

"**What was that!" N**idoran whispered and his sensitive ears turned towards the cause of the sound. It had sounded like metal ticking against metal and it didn't inspire much confidence in them.

"**I don't know…"**Ralts whispered and looked around. There had to be a decent place to hide in this room!

There, in the corner to the right. A small chest lay on its die, its casket closed. "**We can hide in there!"** She said en gestured towards the piece of wood. "**If he can't find us, maybe he'll leave!"** It was a very small chance and she knew it, but they had to try something.

"**You get the lights and I'll open that thing up!"** Nidoran whispered to her. He ran as quietly as possible to their potential cover while she figured out a way to shut off the lights. It had been dark in here when they arrived, so it had to be dark when the Monster arrived too. He would immediately find out that something was wrong if he entered this room while it was bathing in light.

A small cobblestone lying on the ground attracted her attention. She picked it up with her psychic powers and carefully navigated it to the light-switch. When it was only a few feet away she accelerated it, slinging it at the switch with force. The piece of rock hit the switch and turned it, shutting the lights off.

Now the monster wouldn't find them!

But she couldn't find Nidoran now, too. The room was completely dark right now and there was no way that she could find her way around the room in time. The heavy 'thud thud' of the Monsters footsteps sounded right outside the door and she needed to get out of sight soon!

"**Hurry!"** Nidoran whispered, his voice sounding oddly muffled by the thick layer of wood between them.

Yes, like she'd be able to hurry into cover without knocking over half the room's contends. The knob of the door slowly turned, the grinding sound amplifying her fears. Her little heart pumped even faster and she slowly backed up, hoping to put as much room between her and the door.

By accident she stumbled into a hard edge- bumping her back against its edge. A small cry of pain escaped her mouth, but her legs kept going! She fell forwards and noticed that there was something above her head.

Had she backed to a cabinet? If so, then she could hide underneath it!

She fumbled her way under the piece of furniture and quickly prayed a silence thanks to whatever deity had provided her with the means to escape detection.

As soon as Ralts had hid herself underneath the cabinet, the door flung open. The complicated and malicious emotions of the Monster assailed her mind and she crawled even further back, hoping that it wouldn't find her!

Or Nidoran, for that matter.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the walls as the human walked through the room. One of his paws scratched against the wall and a second later, the lights flicked on. The room was bathing in artificial light and she closed her eyes, not wanting to be blinded. Several nerve-wracking seconds followed as the Monster ransacked the room. Chairs were slung around and drawers were opened so violently that they were torn out of their sockets.

Then the big chest were Nidoran was hiding in was flung across the room. Thankfully, its remained closed and the kid remained silent.

Eventually the lights were flicked out and the monster slammed the door, locking both Pokemon in the darkness.

~0~

Someone was close, he could feel it. His feet made no sound when he stepped over rocks and avoided branches. He had spotted a large rock lying near the road and he was slowly making his way up to the piece of improvised cover, making sure to sweep both the area in front of him as the cliff-sides for every possible enemy.

No sooner had he taken cover behind the rock when he heard the faint shuffling of feet. Wishing he still had his motion-tracker the Spartan had no choice but to trust his ears and remain till until the shuffling was close enough.

Almost…almost…

After ten seconds of waiting he jumped over the rock. He saw a large-postured man slowly walking down the route nearly five meters away from him.

"Freeze!" He called and the man froze. Covering the remaining distance within a second he jammed this rifle against the back of his head.

"What's going on here!" He said. "Why is there energy shielding in this city?"

The man was scared shitless, even he could notice. He was trembling and mumbling, trying to form a coherent answer.

"I-I was o-ordered to f-follow you to t-the w-walls!"

"By who?"

"T-them! T-they control t-the city and B-Brock-"

"Who is he!"

"He is t-the g-gym-leader!"

A gym leader? Oak had told him about those. They were people that had opened a building in which a trainer could challenge them for a gym-battle. Then they could win badges, show eight of these to a place called the pokemon league and get a shot at becoming the Pokemon Champion. Whatever that was.

So this Brock had something to do with this situation?

"Where is this gym!" He barked and slammed the butt of his rifle against the man's shoulder. Very gently, but still enough to force him on his knees. Then he pushed the barrel of his gun once again against the man's head and clicked the safety on- very softly so that the man couldn't hear him.

Then he clicked it off again0 very audible this time. The man flinched and began to beg. "Please don't kill me! They forced me to follow you I swear! But I don't work for them I want to help this town! Please don't shoot, Brock knows how to fix this! See these cables? They lead all the way to his gym I swear!"

The Spartan hesitated for a second. He couldn't just put a bullet in this man's skull because he had followed him- but he couldn't allow the bastard to simply live to tell his superiors too.

In the end, he chose to compromise. He lowered his rifle and let loose a single shot- wounding the man in his foot.

He screamed and crashed to the ground, cursing and crying. The Spartan had already left, making his way back to the city. It this man had been sent by someone, then said someone would be in Pewter city at that very moment.

His Pokemon were in danger and that didn't amuse him in the slightest bit. He increased his speed and he reached the town within seconds.

It was empty. Curious. Why had everyone left? Or had they all entered their houses, hoping to avoid some kind of conflict?

With his rifle snapping back and front between the rooftops and windows, he slowly entered the village. This felt too much like an ambush and he didn't like the feeling very much. The red roof of the Pokemon Center appeared in his vision and he knew that his Pokemon had to be in there.

He knew, because the moment that he couldn't find them in there he would do whatever it took to get them back. And that almost certainly meant cleansing the village by shooting every bad guy in the head, following the trail of this Brock and slaughtering the entire organization that everyone kept talking about.

~0~

Ralts didn't know how much time had passed, only that she had been hiding underneath the cabinet for some time now. She didn't know how Nidoran fared or where the Monster had gone. She only knew that she was scared as hell.

"**Please come back…"** She silently prayed to the skies. "**Please make him come back, please let him find us. Let him save us!"**

In order for them to survive, they needed the demon. They needed his protection and awesome skills. He would know how to defeat the Monster, he would know how to-

"**Ralts?"** A faint whispering said. "**Are you there?"**

That was Nidoran! He was still alive!  
"**I'm here!"** She whispered and slowly crouched forwards. The room was dark and she couldn't feel the Monster anywhere- the coast had to be clear. "**Are you alright?**"

"**I'm fine, just a little bruised. You?"**

At that point she had completely exited her cover to expose herself to the room. "**I'm scared, where are you?"**

A faint knocking sounded and she determined that the sound came from her left. "**Over here, still in the chest! It's stuck!**"

Damnit, that meant that she would have to find a way to free him now.

Just as she was figuring out a way to do so, the door flung open. She nearly lost her mind from the sudden sensation of fear that she felt. He was back! He was back and she was out in the open, it had been a trap! It-

The rest of her thought-process got cut off as large hard hands gently wrapped around her. She struggled and fought and tried her best to escape, but to no avail. The creature that had grabbed her could have been a mountain for all the good that her struggling did.

But then she was turned around and she saw the weird no-face face of the demon.

"Stand down!" He told her with his ever so calm voice.

~0~

The Ralts was struggling and fighting his grip- or at least trying to- and he doubted that it realized who had caught it.

"Stand down!" He said; hoping that the Pokémon's newly-trained discipline would get it to calm down.

Little did he know that discipline had nothing to do with the creature's response. It simply stopped moving the instance its gaze met his helmet; not moving as much as a muscle and its body entirely limp.

"_Ralts?"_ It asked him with its sweet little voice. The Spartan didn't know what was being asked and he didn't care. The almost-struggle that the Pokemon had put up when he grabbed it had been indicative of a foreign encounter. Someone else had tried to grab it and for a few moments the Ralts had thought that he was that someone.

That and the fact that it was currently on the attic, one floor higher than were he had left it.

But where was Nidoran…?

The sound of muffled pounding against wood answered that question. He walked over to a fallen chest and confirmed that the noise came from in there. With his fingers he tore of the two hinges that closed the chest as easily as if he tore a piece of paper in half and then he ripped off the lid.

"Nido nido!" The pokemon inside yelled. How had he gotten in there? Had someone locked him up? Then why was Ralts still there? It didn't make sense. Unless…

"What happened?" he asked the Pokemon. He might as well have asked a brick wall what had happened, because neither of them responded.

Odd. He had walked in the Pokemon Center to find the two Nurses doing overtime to treat several trainers with very distinctive wounds on the legs: shot by a gun. He had examined the nearest trainer and frowned when he did not recognize the caliber as UNSC standard. So no UNSC weapon had done this. Then he had taken a closer look on the discarded rounds and concluded that a pistol had made these wounds. Not a classic pistol; a really old model. The empty piece of metal was reminiscent of a revolver-class weapon; a classic six-shooter used by the old cowboys in western movies.

So someone had entered the hospital and simply started shooting? Not entirely. The wounds on the legs of the trainers were to symmetrical- the shooter had been deliberately aiming at these people without intending to kill them- but why? Why disable the trainers and allow the nurse's to continue their jobs? Very weird.

Ralts had undoubtedly teleported away when it realized that it was in danger. But how had Nidoran found his way to the attic room? Had it simply scurried away to cover as soon as the unknown shooter had started blazing guns? Possible.

But now he was reunited with his Pokemon and it was time to face this 'Brock' person that he had heard so much about.

"We're moving out!" He said and withdraw the Nidoran in its Poke-ball. With an unknown revolver-marksman running about the place he had no intention of putting his Pokemon in harms place. Nidoran might be able to hear the gunner and Ralts might be able to sense him; but in the meantime they might get killed while doing so.

No, he would not get them killed when he was perfectly capable of spotting assailants himself. The Ralts would simply need to stay covered underneath his weapons on his back- and he would simply need to trust his own tracking skills. He would protect the creature from incoming fire and together they would make their way to the gym.

Which didn't take very long to do. The trip from the attacked Pokemon Center to the Pokemon Gym where Brock was supposed to reside had taken him only ten seconds. Even when he had stealthed his way past the buildings and taken time to search the area for the marksman everytime he moved on, they still found the gym within no-time.

He stood before the glass doors and was annoyed to find that he couldn't see through them. He swept the rooftops behind him one more time to see if his six was secure and then released his Pokemon. He checked the Pokedex one more time to check the moves that Nidoran and Ralts possessed at that moment memorized them.

"Stay behind me!" he instructed them and took position next to the set of doors. With one movement he turned towards the entrance and slammed his body against the doors; his bulky mass smashing through them with the greatest of ease. They didn't shatter into pieces though- for which he was thankful seeing as his Pokemon weren't wearing powered assault armor- and the Spartan stepped inside the gym.

The instance he did, several strong lights flashed on and his visor instantly polarized to protect him from the sudden intensity. His Pokemon weren't that lucky and they fell to the ground, their vision temporarily impaired. It was an amusing sight to see them trying to get to their feet and bump into each other, but he had no time to continue watching. The attempt at blinding him was a clear form of attack and he planned on retaliating. He aimed his assault rifle carefully down the room and took in its details within micro-seconds.

The room was very large; easily twenty metes high. It had room for three scorpion tanks to ride side-by-side and at the very back, the silhouette of a man was visible.

The Spartan needed answers and he wasn't planning on letting this target slip. Still holding his weapon at the ready he took a few advancing strides, as did the man in front of him. He noticed a weird pattern on the ground; similar to the stripped-down blueprint of a poke ball. A small square where he was currently standing- a large circle in the middle and another square where the man stopped.

"Brock?" He called, hoping that he didn't have to shoot the guy in the head too soon. As much as he needed information his desire to shoot his way out of the town was almost too much for him.

"I am afraid that you won't be going any further than this…" The man spoke. While he was talking, the Spartan reviewed the situation. Big energy-shielding blocking his progress, weird man telling him to talk to Brock because he ordered him to stalk. Cables leading from the energy-shield to the gym and an unknown shooter trying to get his Pokemon.

So considering the current situation he needed to leave some people alive for them to share their information with him.

"Energy shielding. Explain. Now." The Spartan spoke with a low, threatening tone. It didn't matter who the shields belonged to- they didn't belong on this planet. None of these forms of technology did and he still had no clue on how these people got here. He couldn't simply murder his way through the villages; he might accidently kill someone that had valuable information.

"This town wasn't always like this…" The man said and the lights behind him dimmed a bit at the same time. He was able to make out brown spiky hair and a Japanese-like face. "We were a peaceful community…until they came."

"They?"

"Team Rocket…" Brock continued, his voice intertwined with a bitter tone. "They are a terrorist-organization, bend on controlling Pokemon for their own goals. They simply appeared some time ago and struck this region a powerful blow. Our cities are…disconnected from each other and we haven't heard anything from each other."

The Spartan allowed the man to continue; he had revealed much about the current affairs and he now had a clear vision on political affairs. But when Brock remained silent, he had to sate another factor of his curiosity. "Local law-enforcement? The army?"

A bitter laugh escaped the gym-leader's throat and he crossed his arms. "We never had a need for the army here in Kanto since the war ended and our Jenny's aren't numerous enough to stop team Rocket. They have guns- we have not. Simple."

The super-soldier mentally face-palmed. Because the war was over, there was no more need for soldiers? What a stupid mentality. War always returned and soldiers were always needed- the current situation was a perfect example of that.

"So…Route 3?" He asked, still not satisfied with the explanation.

"I can't tell you too much…they…" Brock said but quickly cut himself off. "Team Rocket set that up…we don't know how."

Really? Come one, he had to try better than that. "The cables lead to here…"

Brock swallowed and looked over his shoulder, as if he was looking at someone. "Please…just surrender to them and no one gets harmed.

Now they were getting somewhere. His trigger finger itched and he needed to shoot SOMETHING.

"The trainers in the Pokemon center…did they surrender?"

"Who?" The man replied, obviously confused. In the corner of his eye the Spartan noticed Ralts slowly shaking its head. What did that mean? Not lying or not speaking truthfully?

"And if I don't?" He continued, feeling that the conversation was nearing its end.

"Then I will have no choice but to take you out. I am so sorry trainer…but they have my family. And I value them greater than anything in the world. If it means saving them…I would do anything."

The soldier understood that. To protect that which you cared for, you had to be willing to destroy that which you cared for. Brock had followed this team Rocket's orders to keep the city under control and in doing so, had saved his family. Hostages.

So a terrorist organization that held a family hostage to get what they wanted? That sounded familiar…

No matter; Brock had declared hostility and the Spartan didn't care for him or his family. He would beat the information that he had so desperately tried to keep hidden out of him and then he would tear down the Energy-shielding blocking his way.

The gym-leader pulled out three Poke balls and threw them in the air. "Geodude, Onix, go!"

The three objects spilled their contents and the ground shook as they hit the ground. There were two floating creatures- stone heads with muscled arms attached to them- and one giant…thing.

It looked like a stone snake; its body was elongated and it had no limbs. But its body was segmented into rocks and on its head stood a large, pointy cone.

"His horn is bigger than yours…" The Spartan said with some amusement as he beheld the sight before him. Life that evolved in such a way…it was rather weird.

And troublesome; as he had encountered one such creature before and bullets didn't kill it fast enough.

"Ralts, Nidoran, you're up. Take care of those floating things."

No matter; he'd improvise. While his pokemon would engage these head-things, he'd neutralize that big snake.

~0~

Why was it that everytime that the demon showed up, trouble would instantly arise? It didn't make sense!

The giant creature that was towering over her looked like it ate young Pokemon for breakfast. The demon had ordered her to fight the two floating rocks but how was she going to do that when the big one could just smack them once and be done with it?

"**Let's go!"** The Nidoran male yelled and charged at the first enemy. Was that kid insane! How were they going to-

The demon charged forwards and with incredible inhuman speed, slammed against the giant snake.

Oh, so that was how they were going to fight. Clever trainer!

She took a small step forwards and then decided that she would sue her psychic abilities to cover Nidoran. His combat prowess was still higher than hers, after all.

"Nidoran, double-kick. Ralts keep clear of the other hostile!" The demon ordered them. It was a commendable action- she decided- for the demon to simultaneously ride the giant snake and order both her and Nidoran around.

Her innocent mind didn't realize how wrong that sounded. She had no time to keep dwelling on that, however. The first Geodude might be busy with Nidoran but she had her own troubles. The second one flew towards her with a large grin on its ugly head.

Keep clear? What did that mean again…the demon said clear when there weren't any mean people around…she would need to keep away from mean people! But how?

"Geodude, use tackle!" The brown-haired man yelled and the floating Pokemon charged at her- and she doubted that her frail body could withstand such a powerful hit.

What to do what to do?

"Teleport!" The demon said. Oh, so that was what she needed to do. She closed her eyes and concentrated on moving away from that place. She felt the familiar surge of power through her mind and she felt her body disassemble itself.

The Geodude smacked to the ground a second later.

Nidoran was very busy fighting the first one; his double-kick had landed only one hit and even though his attack was very effective against the rock-type, its skin was still rock-hard. The Pokemon surged backwards with the hit and groaned in frustration.

"Use rock throw!" The enemy-human yelled and Nidoran readied himself to avoid the big boulders that the Geodude would throw at him.

While he was jumping back and forth, trying to not get squished by the flying rocks that his enemy was pulling from the ground and throwing at his head, he noticed that the air began to shimmer with a weird green light.

A split-second later, Ralts appeared. "**Hello!"** She said and blasted the Geodude with a powerful confusion-attack. The rock-type got smacked into the ground and lifted in the air again- before Ralts increased the pressure on its body. The raw psychic power itself was strong enough to harm the Pokemon- she didn't even need to smack it into the walls and ground to defeat it.

While Ralts was holding the Geodude in the air, Nidoran took the opportunity to take it out with another double-kick. His powerful legs smacked the creature in his face and it yelled with pain. Sensing that she didn't need to hold the power-flow any longer Ralts released him. The rock fell to the ground- no longer having enough energy to keep itself afloat.

~0~

So Brock wanted his Onix to kill him? Fair enough. If a big piece of rock could harm him, that is.

The moment that the gym-leader had sent out his Pokemon, he had moved. He knew that his own Pokemon could hold their own against those of Brock and in the meantime, he would strike. The Onix was big enough to completely smash the squishy Ralts and Nidoran, so he would have to remove that threat first. While he gave a few small orders to his Pokemon, he charged at the big snake. He fired a small burst and the some of the rounds managed to pierce the Onix's tough skin, causing it to scream with pain. Or rage, that was a possibility too.

The remainder of the rounds either ricochet off of the creature or flattened themselves against it. But not sooner had he fired his salvo when Brock's slow reaction time started to kick in.

"Onix, use tail whip!" He yelled. The Spartan could guess at what that was supposed to mean and wasn't disappointed with himself when the giant Pokemon lifted its long tail and tried to smash him with it.

Too slow. He rolled to his side and the strike completely missed him. And now he was presented with an opportunity; the Onix' weapon was no out in the open and it hadn't covered itself thoroughly. While he jumped at the animal, he noticed Ralts in the corner of his eye. The creature was standing still while one of the so-called 'Geodudes' was flying straight at it.

"Teleport!" He snapped and the Pokemon obeyed his order immediately. How amusing it was that these creatures blindly obeyed the humans that caught them. Ralts disappeared in a green flash and appeared right behind the one that was trying to attack Nidoran.

Go teamwork.

He returned his attention to the task at hand and dug his hands between the ridges of the segmented snake.

"Onix, shake him off!" Brock yelled and the Pokemon instantly started to shake itself like a wet dog would- his segmented rocks rolling and twisting as it tried to shake the Spartan off.

But his grip was like iron and his weight prevented the giant Pokemon from actively moving too much. Half a ton of armor, thank you very much.

Like bird making use of air currents, the Spartan used each presented lull in the movements of his prey to climb higher and higher. The whole process of working his way up to the Onix' head took him only a minute.

"Onix, use dig!" Brock yelled and the snake roared his acknowledgment. Without a clear way to actually do it, the creature launched itself upwards and surged towards the ground, head first.

Clever thing. The Spartan had no desire to get caught in the ground and quickly jumped off, his momentum dissipated by a quick roll.

Now the Onix was underground and the entire gym shook. The vibrations were so intense that the he had no clear way of determining where the creature currently was. How could it even find its way underground? It had to be too dark for the creature to see and it had no visible hearing organs. So it had to be feeling its way around; sensing the tremors of potential prey when underground.

And right now Ralts and Nidoran were causing a lot of vibrations with their fight against the Geodudes.

"Onix can sense you wherever you go!" Brock yelled, a hint of desperation audible to those that could hear it. "You won't escape!"

That concluded his theory. Thanks Brock.

The super-soldier lifted his boot off the ground and violently kicked it back. He repeated that move twice and a scowl appeared at the gym-leader's face.

"What are you…" He started but then a sudden movement cut off the rest of his sentence. Onix sprang from the ground- sensing the Spartan's movements- and struck with full force, head first.

Or at least it tried to. The Spartan was facing the creature and had actually waited for that exact moment. He drew back his fist and smacked the Onix right in his maw- cracking the rock-hard skin and completely diverting the Pokémon's path.

And now it was time to finish this. He noticed that his Pokemon were busy fighting the first of the two floating rock-heads and that the second one was flying right at them. Damnit!

He twisted his upper body and fired his assault rifle with one hand, not wanting to turn his back completely on his foe. He fired two short bursts and many rounds caught the charging Geodude, some penetrating its skin and others flattening against it. All of the bullets that hit it- however- transferred their force to the floating Pokemon and knocked it off course. That was what the Spartan had aimed at. His Pokemon would have to finish it.

"Onix, use bind!" Brock yelled.

"Nidoran, use double-kick on the remaining hostile. Ralts, fling some rocks to prevent it from moving too much!" The Spartan snapped, deciding in that brief moment that the safety of Ralts and Nidoran was more important than his own at the moment.

His pokemon had made short work of the first Geodude and now they could completely focus on the remaining one. He had actually managed to work in a good team-cohesion with the two; working like a unit to dispatch an enemy force. The Spartan briefly wondered if this was what teamwork felt like before the stone creature struck. Its tail snapped forwards like a snake and about as fast as one too. The Spartan had been too focused on ordering his Pokemon and he could not completely dodge the attack. The tail wrapped around his legs and lower torso and tightened its grip.

"Please just surrender!" Brock yelled as the Onix grabbed the soldier. "Just save yourself, I don't want this!"  
Was this man pleading for his own life, or for that of him? It didn't matter, he had the creature exactly where he wanted it. The Onix brought his head close and roared at its captured prey- and that was when the Spartan struck too. His fists were as quick as lightning and as fluid as water when they hit the creature. It flinched and reared backwards, but the moment he did the soldier grabbed it by the rock that had to cover its throat and dug his fingers underneath the edges. He started to pull.

The pokemon roared and its tail released the Spartan, but he had no mercy. He increased his pressure and the creature started to convulse- trashing around in its futile attempts to free itself.

"_Ralts ral ralts!" _His own pokemon yelled but he didn't listen. He needed something dead and he needed it now- this man and his Pokemon had attacked them and they would pay-

"Return, Onix!" Brock yelled and a red laser hit the writhing creature, reducing it to a small red cloud before its shape was pulled inside the ball.

The Spartan instantly reacted and pulled out his combat knife. He took the brief time to aim at Brock's leg and threw it. The stainless blade flew straight and true and impaled the trainer in his right leg. Brock screamed and fell, clutching his bleeding leg.

Area secure.

He moved towards the fallen man and grabbed him by his neck. Then he lifted the wounded man off the ground and stared him in his eyes.

The sight of his large visor staring at the man made him forget about his leg and his wounded Pokemon.

"Energy shielding." The Spartan said. "Brock tried to pull at his hands a few times but he couldn't get free. In the end, he responded with a defeated tone.

"In the back…is the plug. But please…he keeps my family there. Don't let them get hurt- they had nothing to do with this!  
Ä sob escaped his throat and the Spartan released him- not bothering to finish him off. With his poke ball he called Nidoran back and gestured at Ralts to follow him.

The creature took one last look at the fallen Geodudes and the bleeding form of Brock and shuddered. Then it walked towards the Spartan and followed him inside of the next room.

The room behind the main gym-area was small. It led into a long hallway with barely any lighting, but he didn't need any light to guide him. He thundered down the hall with his rifle at the ready kicked the door wide open- revealing a brightly lit room.

In the brief moment before opening fire he noticed five individuals: a female adult, a female teenager and a male child. Both females were being held as human shields by two adult males garbed in dark clothes, with weird black hats on their heads. The kid was scrambling away from the scene, desperately trying to flee the aggressive males.

"Get back here!" One of the males yelled and then the two of them noticed that the door had been busted open.

The Spartan fired his rifle twice and both males fell to the ground, a bullet-hole visible in both their heads.

The women screamed and the adult woman- who had to be the mother- ducked towards her child, sobbing and crying.

Brock's family.

His finger left the trigger and his mind eased up, the steel-hard grip of his training that had taken over his being slowly released him and his vision regained some of the darker colors.

Now that his combat instincts had eased up he was able think about the more abstract matters of his situation. He had saved the family that was being held captive here- and now that they had stopped screaming they were only sobbing now.

"Who are you?" The mother asked from her crouching position, still holding her son in a tight embrace. Why was she holding him like that? The room was clear and they were safe.

"Just a passerby. Who were these people?" He responded in what he hoped was a kind and warm voice.

The teenager flinched when she heard his voice but otherwise did not respond. The mother took a few breaths and replied.

"Rocket…team Rocket…"

Team Rocket? What criminal organization called themselves 'team'? Or rocket, for that matter.

He crouched near one of the corpses and noticed the big R on the front of its shirt.

Black attire, hostage-keeping and attacking civilians…stealing pokemon and attempting murder?

It looked like this world had their own Insurrection. Great.

"Your husband…Brock… he is wounded. Get to the Pokemon Center and wait until further notice." He continued, his tone flat and devoid of emotion as he was thinking about the events of the day.

Only one of these members had a gun…and it hadn't been a revolver but a normal magazine-fed pistol. The other one wielded a knife.

So who had shot the trainers in the Pokemon Center?

~0~

_The augmentation process turns soldiers into unstoppable killing machines. Or at least that is what ONI had hoped. Their drugs caused a huge increase in reflexes…muscle growth and caused the bones to become infused with titanium-implants- enough to make them indestructible. But ONI has also added something else…something that they won't let me know about. This morning I witnessed Medical personnel strap Spartan zero-one-one in a chair. One of them held a large injection needle and the other one quickly closed the door. I wonder what it is that they do not want me to know…"_

-Logbook entry by mental health specialist Jennifer Sunfield

~0~

**Damn this chapter was long. I believe it is the longest chapter up to date!**

**And with this I will celebrate my tenth chapter, woot woot! I want to express my thanks to my reviewers, favers and followers! You guys rule and it is only because of the dedicated attention of the aforementioned people that I have been able to continue this series. We have only just begun though; I have many more chapters planned.**

**Coming next: Nicknames and bloody violence, evolution time for one of our favorite Pokemon and the Spartan finally finds out that he is like professor Oak in some ways: Are you a boy, or a girl?**

**Tune in for the next chapter!**


	11. Mental approaches

**Primordial Soul...you know just what to say to make me happy! I always enjoy reading your reviews, I actually save them for when I have some cookies and downtime to do so.**

**This story being a crossover between two different world makes the balancing a bit hard to pull off. There is the character development- which I believe has to stand central in a story- but around the character development are several key concepts that have to balance each other out. Pacing, action and plot are just a few examples. Even this far into the story I find myself puzzling with these things. **

**But don't worry, I was actually worrying about not having enough action. I have planned many things that will set the pacing to a bit calmer state: humor, interaction with Pokemon and actual social interaction with other charatcers.**

**As for your last question…only time will tell- because I won't :)**

**Mister Constitutionalist- I did not realise what you meant with that- but you have my respect for talking about such a personal subject in a place where everyone can read it. And your review…well, it needs no saying. Your feedback is always appreciated and formulated in a very warm way.**

**The last part of this chapter was very hard as my mind was distracted. I hope it is coherent enough for my fans to enjoy it- and then there is one last message. Tonight is Thursday and my vacation starts at Monday. **

**I am going on a hike trip for a few days- Friday the 25****th**** will be the day that I return. Until then, I am afraid that I won't be updating. So enjoy this chapter while you can! **

~0~

"_I don't know why he chose the EVA variant. He says he likes it…but I don't know. Do you think…you know…that he wages pshycological warfare with it? The visor is pretty impressive you know."_

"_What, Zero-one-one? If he says he wears it because he likes it, it is because he likes it. He doesn't do hidden intentions- he doesn't know how to."_

"_Is it that bad?"_

"_Kids normally grow into it in their normal environments. He never had the chance."_

"_Great…look who's awake…"_

-conversation between Drill sergeant Mcgonnary, luietenant Wicks and Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield.

~0~

"Speech" Human speech.

"_Speech"_ Pokemon speech to humans

"**Speech"** Speech between Pokemon

"SPEECH" Pokedex entries

~0~

Ralts lvl 19- significant moves: teleport, confusion and growl

Nidoran lvl 13: significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick.

~0~

Now that the situation was relatively under control, he needed to get the energy shielding down .That was his first priority now and he had wasted enough time with his little fight with Brock, even though he had gotten some useful information out of that.

Realizing that he needed some directions he turned to the mother that was taking care of her son.

"The cables from the energy shields," he said, "where do they lead?"

It took the woman a few seconds to recollect herself before she could reply. "Th-there is a small room over there-" she pointed a trembling arm to the left and added: "there you can find it…"

After that she fell silent again. So The Spartan left the shocked family to tend to their own and moved on. The plug had to be somewhere and he would find it. The little Ralts that followed him was very quiet- too quiet for his normal likings, but now he paid it no mind. He had two priorities: first he'd have to disable the Energy shielding that blocked his route and then he would have to find a quiet place to…let his Pokemon rest in peace.

He found the room that the mother was talking about and stepped inside. From the walls to his sides there were at least four protruding cables- and they all converged at one point, right in front of him. There were a few buttons and handles and he quickly looked over them, trying to find the one that he needed.

In the end his eyes fell upon a large lever, right in the center of the control panel. It was turned on and pointed to the left- so he'd pull it to the right and see what happened.

He pulled the lever and the background noises faded away. Obviously he had done something, but what he did he wasn't exactly sure off. What if he had simply deactivated something else? No, he wouldn't risk it. He reached out and grabbed the nearest cable with one hand- and the one underneath it with his other. He gave a hard yank and both gave way- with a loud static discharge they came free of the console.

He repeated this with the other two cables and was satisfied with his work. The energy shielding would be down and he was free to proceed- to where actually? He still had no idea where to go from there.

With a small sigh he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to ask for directions _again_. He absolutely hated doing so- but he had no choice. In order for him to contact the UNSC and ask them to get him the hell out of there he had to reach that 'Saffron city'.

He turned around and was surprised to see that Ralts wasn't following him anymore. Weird. Where could that little thing be? Probably still with the family in the room next door or something.

He walked out the door and left the ruined cables behind him. It occurred to him that the family wasn't that quiet now- their soft sobbing and crying had disappeared and given way for something else.

But what?

The answer presented itself to him rather quick, in the form of Brock. The man had somehow managed to drag himself out of the gym-room to see his family and was currently in the room with them. His children were clinging to him as if they were drowning and he was the only way for them to stay adrift. His wife was sitting in front of him, holding his wounded leg and bandaging it with a piece of her clothing.

The sight of the family comforting each other made him feel uncomfortable, but he had no idea why that would be. The appearance of the Spartan went unnoticed until Brock lifted his head- perhaps to see what had become of the room where the console was- and saw him standing there.

The super-soldier was aware of the fact that his appearance was unnerving to lots of people. His white armor and EVA helmet gave him a rather inhuman appearance. The family had had more urgent matters to think about when he had showed up. But now that they were safe, the seven feet tall soldier looked all the more menacing.

It took the man some time to actually speak, but when he did he didn't sound angry or resentful.

"Thank you for saving my family…" he spoke, his voice sounding weak.

He thought that he had actually saved his family? Whatever, if that prevented him from being hostile then he could go right ahead.

"I want to give you something…even though your methods were…far from elegant, I still want to present you this."

He reached inside his pocket and the Spartan immediately tensed, ready to act as soon as Brock pulled out a weapon.

But he didn't. Instead of a weapon, the man pulled out a small, grey object. "This is the Pewter city gym badge!" Brock said. "I know that the circumstances weren't exactly ideal… but you beat me nonetheless. And to survive the direct assault of an Onix…especially one as strong as mine…that is something else."

Was it? He had fought grunts that posed more of a threat than the Onix did. Wasn't this man angry that he had nailed his leg, nearly killed his Pokemon and then proceeded to cause a bloodbath near his family?

He hesitated with taking the badge. He had a priority and that was more important to him than anything. On the other hand; he would be stuck here on the planet for a few weeks at the least. He couldn't exactly do much in those weeks- save for training himself and his Pokemon so that they might defend themselves when he was gone. Besides; if the towns truly weren't connected to each other then they might not trust him when they saw him. He didn't want to cause more harm that could easily be avoided without misunderstandings and from what he had heard; Brock was a rather well known man. If he took the badge with him then he could use it as proof for his reliability. People would be more willing to help him if they knew that he wasn't a 'bad guy'.

"You risked your life by saving us…you put yourself in harm's way to save people that you don't even know!" The woman said with a soft voice. Her tone was low and tired, but what she said wasn't mean or hurting. So she had to be grateful. Her words, however, didn't make sense to him.

Then she too reached inside her pocket and pulled out something small. It looked like a yellow crystal on chain- some sort of jewel?

"I want you to have this…as a sign of my gratitude. It's a small trinket that my father once found in an excavation. He said that it is called amber- perhaps you can find some use for it?"

As a soldier, it was his job to put himself in harm's way for the innocent. He shouldn't be thanked for doing his job- it was to be expected. He didn't earn rewards.

"Merely doing my duty ma'am." He responded. Then he reached out and grabbed the Badge from Brock's hand, but not the 'amber'. "No man should be rewarded for doing their job."

The woman looked shocked by his statement- clearly he had said something weird. "But you didn't just do your job- you could have turned around and walked away!"

No he couldn't have, an energy wall was in his way. Weird female.

"Please take it…at the very least you can sell it for some money- things are rather expensive the farther you come into Kanto."

It was funny in a painful kind of way that he had first taken in Pokemon to care for and that he had now 'won' his first badge. The fact that a woman proposed him a reward for his duties was just…not good.

Still, he needed the money; He couldn't afford to be snippy or picky when it came to survival. So he slowly grabbed the piece of amber too and put it together with the badge in his pocket.

"Thank you."

He hoped that it would stop here, he and Ralts weren't-

Ralts! He almost forgot; he had actually returned here to search for Ralts.

"Ralts?" he said and looked around. "You copy me?"

No response. How weird; had it gotten hurt somehow? Had it hidden to prevent people from hurting it? No, he hadn't trained the creature like that. So where was it?  
"Ralts?" The woman replied. "Is that your pokemon?"

He nodded.

"I think I saw it trying to hide back in the gym-room. Perhaps it is there?"

Why would it be there? It had no reason to hide…had it?

~0~

The demon was bad. She knew it from the beginning and still she decided to give it a chance; hoping that perhaps it could redeem itself. She had ignored everything that she had come to hate about him!

His indifference to the creatures around him, his stupidity when it came to their feelings and his terrible appearance.

He had murdered and killed and caused the death of those around him and she had been forced to experience the emotions and feelings of those around him. The demon had never once expressed itself in a way that she could understand and she had always thought that his lack of emotions was what made him so terrifying.

She had been wrong.

When she and Nidoran had been fighting the floating-rocks, the demon had been fighting the stone-snake. It had displayed an amazing set of skills and concentration; being able to dodge climb and move while at the same time telling her what to do to save both herself and Nidoran.

And then she had felt it. The demon's well controlled mind and tidily kept sensations had boiled over and something had escaped from the iron prison that was his mind, something terrible and painful. Something that had hurt her when she had picked it up.

It had terrified her even more than his usual stoic attitude; what he had felt had bordered on the complete loss of his mind. She couldn't even fathom it; she had spent the next two minutes sitting next to the crying humans and the young child that was being held by the mother.

She didn't know why, but she liked being near them. So when the demon continued moving to reach his goal, she had tried to make sense of what she had felt.

The demon's entire being had changed. His mind had been replaced by something primal and evil- even if the sensation only lasted for a few seconds, that didn't change it.

That made it worse. The demon's entire mind had been gone and replaced by his deepest urges and needs; the most primal and feral parts of human being. And then he had returned, his common sense returned and immediately he had shielded his thoughts and feelings from her probing mind.

And she had been forced to share in his sensations when he lost control. The demon was truly a demon; the most evil form of life that could be. And she had been blindly following him- it- for a few days now. It had pretended to care for her and Nidoran but at the same time it didn't even try to hide the fact that it would leave them as soon as possible!

So she ran. She turned around and fled the room; she fled the horrible combination of pain and horror that her life had become. She fled the pain of her parents leaving her behind and she fled the bloodlust that could control the demon so easily.

She wanted to be gone- she wanted to disappear from this terrible world and just find a hole to hide in and cry.

She felt the tiny nub of her mental power in the back of her head tingle and move. Without actually intending to she summoned a cloud of purple energy and it enveloped her body. The fact that the appearance of her psychic powers had changed didn't bother her; nothing did. She simply focused on her intent to disappear and blocked out everything else. Her powers peaked and the nub in her mind broke free-

-and with a purple flash she disappeared.

~0~

Why had it he tried to hide? It didn't make sense!

As the Spartan walked out of the gym, he kept wondering what had happened. He couldn't just move on he had to take Ralts with him, that was just a fact. But it wasn't anywhere in the gym- he had made sure of that. He had called Nidoran from his ball and ordered him to find Ralts. Even Brock and his family had tried to help him and in the end, Nidoran had shaken his head.

No Ralts in the gym, then. Perhaps it had teleported in a fit of fear and fled the scene? So where would the diminutive Pokemon be?

For the next five minutes the super soldier searched the village, having Nidoran concentrate on Ralts' sounds and those only. It didn't help, they couldn't find it. Damnit!

The Spartan didn't know what to do- for the first time since he had landed on this planet, he was out of ideas. Nidoran couldn't find the Pokemon and he couldn't either. Should he steel his heart and once again sacrifice that which was important to him for his duty?

He could always return here when he had contacted the UNSC. The people were safe now and would be very grateful…but he didn't trust them. He trusted no one and the only one that he did trust was lost.

No, he couldn't advance without his Pokémon.

He had patrolled the entire village; moving at speeds that nobody could hope to track. Even Nidoran lost him in the end- only when the Spartan paused in front of a large hole in the cliff near Route 3 did he reunite with him.

"Hear anything?" He said to the little creature. Nidoran focused his oversized ears on the entrance and kept his position for several seconds. Then it slowly turned to the Spartan and shook his head.

That didn't have to mean anything though. He had spent plenty of time moving through caves- weird things happened to sounds in there. So there could be a small possibility…right?

~0~

"**Don't tell him I'm here…"** a soft voice spoke to him. Nidoran spun around, frightened out of his mind. Had someone snuck up on him? Impossible! He would have heard that! And the only thing he had heard was a small rustling noise coming from the cliff.

He waited for the voice to repeat itself, but it didn't. What had just happened?

"**Hello?"** He yelled and noticed that the trainer wasn't paying any attention to him. Clearly he hadn't heard the voice…

"**Is anyone there?"** It was silent for a minute, but then-

"**Go away!"** The voice said again. Nidoran frowned. Ralts had told him of her psychic powers, but that didn't mean that…did it? Could it?

'_Ralts?'_ he thought, concentrating on that name. He was certain- the Pokemon had somehow contacted him with her mind!

But no matter how hard he thought and how much he focused, it didn't repeat itself. There was no more whispering in his mind and no more forms of communication. But the weird rustling noise continued

So Ralts didn't want to be found? Why was that? What had happened?

Don't tell him that I'm here…wasn't trainer allowed to know? Why was that?

Damn. Something had actually happened to her and she didn't want anyone to find out- but that left him with two problems.

If he listened to her and honored her request, he would put her in danger.

If he didn't listen to her then she would be found by the trainer and kept safe- but it wouldn't be what she wanted.

What to do, what to do?

He gazed over his shoulder and looked back at his trainer- who was nowhere to be found.

Odd. Where could he have gone to? He really was fast- and quiet silent for someone his size.

Nidoran kept moving forwards to the cliff, hoping that Ralts would be somewhere there. But to his dismay, the human was already there. Had he somehow traced the telepathic communication back to that place? Or had he noticed him slowly moving there? It didn't matter; he couldn't simply let the 'demon' find Ralts without him deciding what to do.

He accelerated his speed and ran towards his trainer, hoping that he could somehow catch his attention.

He didn't seem to notice his distress. He could alert the trainer now and let Ralts get caught. Or he could ignore her. He didn't know what to do and he slowly walked up to the crevice where he thought that she was hiding.

"Hear anything?" The human asked him.

What would he do? What should he do?

~0~

The poison-type didn't react to his question in any other way. It had simply shook its head and kept his gaze on the small hole inside the cave. For some reason he couldn't shake the uncanny feeling that he could stop his search; that he had found what he was looking for- who he was looking for. And Nidoran was acting very strange. He had often felt like Nidoran and Ralts could understand each other- the way they kept chattering to each other. But they hadn't been together for some time; Ralts couldn't have spoken of its sudden disappearance to him.

So now? The hole was too small for him to effectively enter. Nidoran could do it, but he wouldn't send the little thing inside there. It was his responsibility- whatever had compelled Ralts to run away, it couldn't have been just fear. There hadn't even been any return fire; that engagement with Brock hadn't been that scary. So something else had to have happened…what?

He wouldn't know. He reached for the hole- and quickly withdrew his hand as a psychic blast slammed against it. His shielding flared and it dropped a few percent.

The Spartan made a mental note that psychic pokemon could hurt his energy shields and reached for the hole again. He braced himself as another psychic blast slammed into his gauntlet and this time didn't falter. He grabbed the inside of the hole and placed his head in front of the entrance.

"Ralts!" He calmly said. "It's me, hold your fire!" Perhaps the Pokemon had mistaken him for a hostile. But why hadn't Nidoran heard it? Could it be possible that Ralts hadn't even made a sound?

But the Pokémon's ears were so sensitive that it could have even picked up Ralts breathing. Or so he understood it. Either way; he would have a little 'talk' with the creature. For now, he had to find a way to get Ralts out of there.

"Come on, we're moving out."

No response. What was wrong? "Ralts move out! That's an order!"

Still nothing. Enough was enough; the Spartan had little patience for misbehavior. He had wasted so much time and energy by taking the Ralts with him- the one thing that the Pokemon could do in return was obey him and stick with him.

He took a step backwards and then lunged forwards, reaching for the inside of the cave. He heard the clattering of rocks hitting rocks- and a very faint sobbing. Then he heard the Pokemon scrambling away; moving deeper into the cavern.

What? Could Pokemon cry? What had happened to Ralts that it was sobbing? Was it to excrete salts from its body or because of…feelings?

"Ralts…" He said softly, not knowing what to do. From the corner of his eye he saw Nidoran glaring at him- as if blaming him for the little psychic's hurt. The Spartan grabbed the poke ball and withdraw the Nidoran. He couldn't use distractions now- his curiosity was roused and he had to know what was wrong with the Pokemon. It might help him understand further encounters-

Ah hell. He simply wanted the Ralts back at his side- for reasons that he couldn't comprehend. He felt the faint sensation of unknown feelings in the back of his mind and briefly wondered what it was that he felt. It didn't matter either way, but he was curious as to what the Pokemon could do that caused those feelings to rise in the first place.

He looked up, his gaze scanning the surface of the cliff for any holes large enough for him to enter.

None. Off to the next field of vision. The soldier moved a few dozen meters down the route and turned the corner. He noticed an entrance in the stone wall up ahead and ignored the girl that yelled for a trainer battle. He moved to the promising entrance and was surprised to see that the cave system actually included this entrance.

Had his luck turned or something?

"Sir, wait!" Someone yelled and he heard the tapping of feet on the ground- the sound of someone running towards him. Nope, he had no time silly children. He had a companion to save.

From what Ralts had to be saved he still wasn't sure, but he'd figure that out later.

Without any further delay he pulled his assault rifle from his back and walked into the entrance. In his haste to find his Pokemon, he missed the next words that the girl yelled at him. Or perhaps the cave actually distorted sounds as they entered its entrance.

"Don't go in there! It's Zubat mating time and there are hundreds of those bloodsuckers in there!"

~0~

The cave was dark and wet; dripping water echoed through the walls and unnerved her somewhat. She had no idea why she had hidden herself in the cavern- when she reappeared after her teleport, she had found herself somewhere on Route 3. Her first thought had been to get into a good hiding spot and the small hole in the cliff had seemed like a good idea to her.

But the demon had been near- it was searching for her. And Nidoran was there too- a source of guilt for her. She had left the kid with the demon to bring herself to safety. That wasn't a very nice thing to do to her friend, but she trusted Nidoran to be capable enough to protect himself alone. The demon hadn't done anything to harm him yet.

But Nidoran could find her and she didn't want that. So while she focused on warning the kid with his sensitive ears away, she noticed the demon coming closer and closer. She trusted that Nidoran wouldn't betray her and slowly crawled backwards.

Then the demon had noticed her. She couldn't help but be overwhelmed by her emotions- the fear and the pain, the feelings of loss and anger were too much.

Tears broke through as she scrambled backwards, away from the reaching demon. He called her name and asked her to come out but she wouldn't have anything of it. She needed to be safe; she had to get away-

A torrent of energy flowed through her mind and without intending to she blasted the reaching hand away from her with her powers.

Oh no. She had attacked the demon! It would want revenge now, just like he wanted with the male and his stone-Pokemon.

His head appeared in front of the entrance- his scary reflective nonface obscured her vision- and he talked to her again. His agitation was reassuring in a way- he didn't sound dishonest. His emotions were still obscured to her like always, but this time she could sense that he was frustrated with her.

So no hidden intentions of revenge? No trickery to get her out? Didn't it realize that she wanted it away from her?

His head disappeared and she knew that now was her only chance. She slowly crawled backwards into the cave-system behind her. But then- like a strike from lightning above- the demon slammed his arm inside and he tried to grab her. Her heart skipped multiple beats and the realization of his move struck her hard.

He wanted to get her back that was obvious. But didn't he- it! - realize that she didn't want to be with it anymore?

A sob escaped her throat and she moved even further away from the reaching hand of the demon.

"Ralts…" He spoke her name as he slowly retracted his limb. His voice sounded heavier than normal, but she didn't care. She crawled further into the tunnel, away from everything that hurt her.

But then the ground underneath her disappeared and she fell, fell deeper into the cavern of darkness. She had to slow her movements, she had to act quickly!

She channeled her mental powers- which became easier and easier to do- and canceled her descent. Her momentum ceased and she levitated in the air, mere centimeters above the ground.

Now what! She couldn't get back up again and she had no idea where she was, the cave was dark and wet and noises were everywhere.

The need to cry again was very present, but she repressed it. At least her time together with the demon hadn't been useless: it had trainer her well; her powers were easier to reach and her mind was clearer than before.

But that could also be simple growth; the demon couldn't have been responsible for everything

She slowly walked forwards, her arms wrapped around her chest. She was cold, wet and alone. Could things possibly get any worse?

She bumped into a rock and fell to the ground. It rolled a few paces before hitting another rock- which caused several smaller pebbles to fall to the ground. The sudden noise was very loud in the silent cave- and suddenly she felt the base feelings and needs of many dozens of creatures at once. The sensation nearly overwhelmed her mind before she managed to block them out of her mind.

It seemed that she wasn't so lonely after all.

~0~

Math tensed and stopped moving when he heard the clattering of rocks in the distance. It could have been a few meters in front of him, or hundreds. If only he still had his motion tracker. He had to try and repair that one of these days- if his field-stripper was still in one piece.

So there was movement somewhere? That had to be Ralts. He had the pure luck of reaching a large tunnel-system where he knew that Ralts had to be. But now he still had to find the weird little thing.

Why had it fled? What could have possibly happened to make it run away? He couldn't for the life of it understand. Could he have done something to prevent the pokemon from running? Could he have protected it from the sensations that it had to have experienced? There was no way of telling.

A faint rustling near his head made him spun around, his rifle at the ready. Nothing.

Even with his clear-night vision he couldn't see everything in this cave. Had it been the wind?

No, his senses were tingling and he knew that something was there. Something was tracking him- question is, was it a threat?

Had it spotted Ralts?

He slowly moved on, keeping his rifle sweeping from left to right and keeping his concentration peeked. Nothing would get the jump on a Spartan, that was for sure.

Suddenly his MJOLNIR armor picked up a weak wailing, like a child in distress. The sweet feminine voice of Ralts was the only logical explanation for the sound. Had he found her?

He increased his speed, moving through the tunnels with speeds and reflexes that no human could have ever hoped to match. He never bumped into something; he never even lost his bearing. He instantly homed in on the sounds in the distance and noticed the same eerie rustling noises he had heard a few moments ago. Now they were up ahead- together with the sobbing and screaming of his Ralts. He winced when he heard the sounds of distress and pain- the sadness that underlay its tone and the desperation with which it screamed.

Yes, he had spotted Ralts.

~0~

The monsters were everywhere; flying through the air without any problem and evading her blind attacks. They came from nowhere and were determined to hurt her. There were so many of them- she kept getting clipped and smashed and cut by the monsters.

They hurt her and she screamed and cried with fear and pain. She wasn't even feeling that much pain- it was just the shock and intense ferocity of the creatures that were pelting her that caused her screams.

Tears were rolling down her face as she desperately struggled to get away from her assailants. They never left her alone and she could feel their killing intent. It was so basic and primal- it reminded her of the demon in some ways. How it had lost its mind to the savage madness for moment before it had regained control.

These things weren't in control- they were completely guided by their needs and had no more control over their actions than a leave flying on the wind had.

Another monster hit her in her back and she lost her balance. With a heavy smack she fell to the ground and she knew that she would not life to see the pain come to an end.

She had left the demon and the Nidoran just as her parents had left her and now she paid for it. There was no one to protect her, no one to save her. She would die alone and afraid- in pain and desperation-

A clap of thunder split the air, then another and another. Within two seconds ten of the monsters fell to the ground, their blood splattered across the ground. The remaining creatures scattered into the darkness and it was silent.

She lifted her head- it felt so heavy and it hurt so much- and saw the demon standing there. Tall and mighty, his skin shining white and his golden face made him look like a divine being. It had found her- and saved her. But why? Did it want personal revenge for her hurting it? Or was it merely content to punish her for leaving it?

"Ralts…" It said and knelt next to her, extending its claw to her. The palm of the hand was faced upwards and its fingers touched the ground. What was it doing? Did it want something from her? Why was it acting like this? Was it testing her?

Before either of them could speak again, she rustling of a hundred wings filled the cavern with sounds and many dozens of shapes descended from the ceiling. They poured from every hole, every opening and they swarmed around them.

Even the demon could not survive this! She realized with despair.

~0~

He had found it. He had actually found Ralts- it was lying on the ground in a large dark cavern, being assaulted by large blue bats. The animals were everywhere- in the instance he analyzed the tactical situation he counted at least fifteen of the creatures. They were all concentrating on the helpless Pokemon- attacking it from everywhere, the cowardly creatures.

But they had made a fatal mistake- one that they could never have known to be possible. The small pokemon that they wanted to kill so mercilessly had a protector. One that was armed with a powerful MA5C assault rifle and 7.67 caliber armor-piercing rounds.

Time slowed for the Spartan as he sighted down the sights. He didn't know how much clips he had left to use- but it had to be enough for this little engagement. With every shot he fired he nailed at least two of the bloodthirsty creatures.

He noted that there were two kinds of hostiles- small ones without eyes and larger ones with a big gaping mouth and a pair of mean-looking eyes. Their large pointy canines identified them as carnivorous or even blood-sucking. Original.

But with every bat he killed, another one took its place. After the first two seconds of the fight the swarm had descended upon them. His shields flared slightly but only dropped a few percent from the constant buffeting of their bodies against him. He knew that his little companion wouldn't last a second when the swarm hit her- even if he protected it between his legs it would still get killed. There were just too many of them and he didn't know how he could protect his Ralts.

The creatures moved like they were suspended in honey but the swarm got dangerously close to it- he estimated that it took the bats only a few seconds before they reached it-

-and his rifle clicked empty- Damnit! Had had wasted half of the magazine with his battle against Brock and when he started shooting the bats, he did so with only half a clip.

Now it was empty and even though he could reload in just as much as two seconds, the temporary lull in the fight would present the bats with an opening to sweep down and murder Ralts.

Unacceptable. He needed to protect it but how? There wasn't a single way for him to completely protect the creature from the attacking swarm. To do to he had to completely encase it somehow- or the attacking hostiles would simply swarm through the openings and weaknesses.

The creatures noticed that he had stopped firing and even though they moved so slowly, they still steadily advanced towards the two lone defenders.

And then it hit the Spartan. He did have a way to protect his Pokemon- he would just have to sacrifice his most important and deepest form of dignity and protection. He would have to do what no Spartan ever wanted to do and he had to do it in a dark cave filled with bloodsucking angry bats.

But it meant protecting Ralts, so he'd gladly do it even if the cave was filled with hungry Brutes and hunters.

He reached up to his helmet and quickly undid the seals. It emitted a loud hissing as the internal atmosphere fell away and he tore the helmet of his head. He tasted the cold twang of humid air and the screeching of the swarming creatures sounded even more annoying. He knelt before Ralts- damn he was slow, he needed to move faster!

"Get down!" He yelled and placed the helmet on top of the Ralts, who had understood the message very clearly and was making itself even smaller to allow the helmet to completely fit over its body.

Then the Spartan stood and placed one boot on top of the helmet, to protect it from being knocked over. The tough EVA helmet would be enough to protect the Pokemon from almost everything that this world could throw at it.

But now that his helmet had been removed, he had no shields to cover his head. With one boot on his helmet and the other one placed firmly on the ground, he stood tall. He quickly reloaded and continued his stream of fire- his near pinpoint accuracy and overwhelming rate of fire was the undoing of many creatures. But the constant screeching was so deafening, so consuming that he soon found himself unable to maintain his slaughter like before. His kill rate slowed down as he was forced to concentrate on each and every target.

Was this some sort of hunting technique? Confuse the target with screeching sounds and then overwhelm them?

A wing clipped his cheek and he felt a burning feeling following its trail. Something hot and wet dripped down his jaw but he ignored it. A large shape came out of nowhere and he quickly held his hand up to catch it. The large bat flew right into his palm and the Spartan was able to make out a large gaping mouth with large sharp canines. Then he smacked it out of the air and it smashed into a wall, silencing it.

A white-hot needle penetrated his skin and he instantly reached up to grab at his neck, grabbing the sucker that had bitten him there. He squeezed and the animal died in his grip.

That constant screeching- it was so intense that he couldn't even comprehend where he was standing, up and down lost their meaning.

The screaming bats did indeed confuse their prey with their loud screeching, he realized. He couldn't remain standing upright for much longer- not whilst balancing his weight on his hind leg and at the same time applying just enough weight to keep his helmet pinned on the ground. He had to shift balance or he would fall, he was sure of that. And if he fell, he wouldn't be able to keep Ralts safe.

And it would die.

~0~

The demon was firing his thunder-stick with amazing skill. Monster after monster fell out of the air and none of them had even touched her so far! But despite its efforts, the amount of flying Pokemon was too great for them. In the few seconds that the demon had been fighting, the flying horde kept getting closer and closer to her. They couldn't possibly hurt her defender but if it stopped fighting or even paused in his valiant efforts to keep protecting her, they would get her.

And she knew that would happen. There was nothing she or it could do to stop her impending death.

And then it happened. Just when her hopes were as low as they could be, the demon- in its ever quick and honed speed- grabbed his head and pulled. He actually pulled at his head and it came off. Ralts watched with amazement as the demon tore its head of and revealed another head. In the brief second before it knelt before her and told her to get down, she was able to make out an incredibly pale skin- And then the demon placed its second head over her body and everything became dark. The thundering noises of his stick continued and the ground underneath her vibrated. A faint 'thud' signaled that the something had hit her shelter and she couldn't understand what had just happened. She tried to make sense of what was going on and failed miserably.

She tried again. First, the demon had showed its ugly side. Then she had left it and it had followed her. Then she had attacked it and again, it had followed her. At first she had thought it was because of revenge, but now it had done something that she had never seen it do before, just to save her. It went to such great lengths just to keep her protected… was it so hell-bent on getting its own revenge? Or could it truly be caring about her; was it actively trying to protect her just to keep her save?

And how? How could it have torn off its own head? Was that a demon trick? And its face…it looked so…alien. It was human and at the same time it was not.

The constant Supersonic screams of the attacking Pokemon didn't seem to affect her so much within her protective shell. Was it somehow preventing them from confusing her with their sounds? Was that what had protected the demon too when he came to her aid? His second head?

The weird shelter shook violently and she instantly covered her head with her hands. What was happening? The thundering had slowed down. Had the demon won or was it dying?

Another quake tore through the ground and this time she heard two heavy thumps. The protective shell moved with each impact and teetered on its edge, nearly falling over and revealing her to the swarming monsters.

A third, much louder impact smacked against the encasing shelter and it fell over- lying uselessly on its side. She crawled on her hand and feet underneath it, desperate to get away. A few drops of blood hit the ground and she instantly sprang back. What was..?

She trembled over her entire body and slowly gazed up. She saw the demon standing right next to her- his thunder-stick occasionally barking loudly and an attacking bat would fall to the ground. Now that its protective second head was gone, the monsters actually managed to hurt him. And while the demon kept getting pelted by one hostile after another- which it all managed to repel- she was able to catch a glance of its face.

It looked relatively human. In fact, it looked very human- it possessed two eyes and one nose, together with a mouth and two ears. The odd thing was that its features were sharper than any humans she had ever seen and its skin was pale, very pale. It was as if it hadn't seen the sun for many years- like the demon had been dwelling in a cave for most of its life. Was that why it wore a second head? To disguise itself?

A crazy thought entered her mind. A thought that burned all her fears and doubts away and caused a sudden clarity to fill her head.

It wasn't a demon…it was actually a human!

The realization hit her with such force- with such intensity - that she could actually feel her body quiver and burn with an unknown feeling. It was a human…and it was bleeding for her. Its- his- face was covered with scratches and gashes and still it fought on. It could have kept _his_ second head on- but it got himself hurt for her. It was actually bleeding willingly just to protect her.

And she had tried to flee him, thinking that he would hurt her.

Her body burned even brighter and she could actually feel what kind of emotion it was. She just couldn't name it- it was such a pure basic feeling that she simply knew that what it meant. It meant…development. It meant that she finally understood something about her world and most important: She understood her own feelings.

She was burning so bright now that her body actually began to glow; she could swear that her limbs were shining with green-white light and she felt her body change. Her mind encased itself in an iron shell and rearranged itself- she couldn't even describe what was going on. She simply understood- she understood so many things now. It was as if she had been living in a small sphere up to now- and that sphere had just shattered to a million pieces. Her understanding and intelligence expanded immensely; like a creature that had changed from a water-dwelling creature to a land-dwelling creature. It was an evolution- just like her mother had told her when she was younger. Pokemon could evolve during certain circumstances- and their powers and intelligence would grow tremendously.

She had just evolved!

Her mind freed itself and she felt her body. She felt its gracious elegance…its flexible limbs and perfect balance. She felt like dancing- dancing to celebrate her newly gained awareness and physical abilities. Dancing to see what she could do and dancing-

-dancing to show the demon what she could do.

"**Not a demon…"** she giggled to herself and sensed the many teeming minds of Zubat and Golbat around her. The silly creatures were attacking her trainer and she couldn't have that.

She took a step forwards and gestured with her hands. For a split-second a shimmering blue wall appeared in front of the bloodied warrior and then it disappeared. But she knew that it hadn't simply faded away- it was simply invisible to the naked eye.

The human- what was his name again? Oh yes, it was Math. He was still standing tall- like the proud and unbreakable fighter that he was. She noticed the many wounds on his face and her eyes locked with his.

Her eyes could have never seen it before she had evolved, but now they did. She saw so many things now- and she saw the human's eyes shift. It was so subtle that anyone could have missed it- but not her. She saw the movement and instantly knew that the human was surprised at her new form.

Pleasantly surprised, she hoped. No matter, she would get to that later. For now she had to protect her trainer from any other form of pain- he had sacrificed his own protection for her wellbeing and by doing so, had revealed his true form to her.

That had inspired the inspiration for her evolution and she was eternally grateful for him. Now she would return the favor and chase these silly little bats away.

She pirouetted three times and wondered at the extent of her flexibility. She stopped the movement and waved with her arm once. The attacking Pokemon were knocked back and she could feel how confused they were. She grinned wide and extended her mind as she had done before- but this time, it was so much more.

She touched the minds of the violent Pokemon and shouted at them with her mind: **'Go away! We will leave your cave if you let us.'**

She was satisfied when she realized that the bat-pokemon had heard her- and even more so when most of them actually turned to fly away.

The human lowered his weapon and watched the creatures flee. The ground was littered with remains of multiple dozens of bodies and spend casings- together with large plashes of blood. Most of it was purple, but there were drops of red spread across the bloodbath. A testimony to the trainer's bravery and prowess.

"Ralts?" He said, confusion was evident in his tone. His voice was so…strong. It presented a good listener with so much ways to read him- and she was a good listener. When it came to him, she was the best listener. For yet unknown reasons she could understand him. Far better then she could before- which, to be honest, was absolutely zero.

But still, his mind betrayed forms of ignorance. Things that were unknown to him and known to her- things that had to be known to many forms of life. She would have to attend those too- but for now, she giggled at his misunderstanding of the world around him.

'_**No silly**_**!'** She told him with her mind. His eyes narrowed and he turned around, his weapon doing a complete sweep of the cave. The warrior was jumpy! How amusing. When he turned to face her again she walked up to him until they were only a feet apart. Then she looked up at his face- he was looking all serious and mistrusting.

The human looked down at her form and she knew that he was eying her body. She also knew that it was purely tactical what he did- she stole that from his thoughts. They were still well-hidden from her, but her new powers were unstable and she was able to glean some facts from his mind. Like that one. She could let him guess at the situation some more, but when another drop of blood fell from a gash on his cheek a pang of guilt and pity overcame her.

'_**You can call me Kirlia now**_**,'** she told him. It occurred to her that he might not believe her- he was incredibly paranoid for some reason. _'__**Math**_**.**' She added his name- he had only told her as far as she knew.

His gaze held hers for a second longer before she broke the contact. For some reason she couldn't look in his eyes for too long- there was something she had to research first.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

'_**I evolved.'**_ She simply stated while she walked up to his fallen "second head." How stupid of her- this was obviously some piece of armor. Humans wore hats and pieces of clothing more often than not and he obviously needed the protection.

She tried to lift the heavy piece of equipment and was surprised to find out that she couldn't lift it. What strange kind of material was this thing anyway?

She turned around and nearly jumped a meter in the air. Her trainer was standing right in front of her; obviously having snuck up to her without making a single move.

Damn he was good.

"Kirlia?" He asked. "Did you change your name?"

She giggled. Like she chose to; her species had simply changed when she evolved. She was a Kirlia now like he was a human. Or almost human; she wasn't entirely sure that he was completely human.

'_**No…I changed into something else. I simply evolved- you aren't the smartest one are you, Math?'**_

She had no idea how the rules and borders had shifted. She needed to completely review her situation- and for some reason, the human had linked his name with a significant value.

"Are you speaking telepathically?" He deduced that rather quickly.

How did he know that?

"Evolving…how did you do it?"

Damn…now he hit the personal thing. One side of her mind simply wanted to brush the question away- he wouldn't tell if she was lying. But she couldn't bring herself to lie to him- he had gone through so much simply to protect her. He had saved her life again… and had gotten hurt while doing so.

She teleported up to his shoulder and sat down on his broad shoulders. '_**I like your name…'**_She said while she thought of a way to tell him how she had done it.

"You need one too."

What?

'_**Pardon me?**_'

"I can't keep calling you by your species name." He figured that out quick too. He was drawing all the fun out of this little game! "You need a proper name."

Who was he to give her a name? Well…maybe her trainer…adopted human…master…and someone that she needed to raise properly. She had his name- it was only fair that he named her too.

But he remained silent.

'_**Well? Get on with it!**_ She told him.

"Well… he said and seemed to hesitate. "Are you…I mean, you look like…"

He seemed to be unable to form coherent sentences. What was wrong with him? She tried to peer into his mind, but it was well fortified. A single feeling he could not hide from her, however. She identified it as confusion and she quickly determined what was wrong. A red blush crept to her cheeks as she came to her conclusion.

He didn't know that she was a girl! Silly human…he might as well be a demon with his knowledge of life on this planet. _**'Can't you tell?'**_

Wait a minute…if he couldn´t tell whether she was a girl or a boy… then…

_**´ DO I LOOK LIKE A BOY TO YOU?'**_

~0~

This was completely insane! His pokemon talked to him? In his mind? That didn't even seem physically possible!

First he had witnessed the Ralts glow completely white and turn into another Pokemon, and then it had somehow…made the bats go away. How had it done that?

And seriously, how was it talking to him in his mind? How could he defend his thoughts when someone could simply read them out of his mind? He would need to focus even harder than normal now. He trusted Ralts…but now that it called itself Kirlia…its entire attitude had done a 180. How was he supposed to understand a creature that could read his mind?

And he didn't even know what to call the little thing. Well, slightly less little thing. He could name her something simple and militaristic…but its attitude had dazzled him so much that he didn't know whether that was a good idea or not.

Perhaps it was because of the constant screeching that the bats had emitted during the fight or because of the new mental contact- but he couldn't completely think clear now. He accepted the Pokémon's attitude for now and searched his mind for something that could satisfy it.

Or was it a girl? Its voice sounded so feminine…

"Well… he said didn't know how to put it. Questioning the sex of someone didn't seem very social to him.

"Are you…I mean, you look like…"

He winced and realized that his confusion had already insulted the creature. He let it yell at him for a second before finally recollecting himself.

"Stand down- mind your tone." He calmly told it. The Kirlia on his shoulders stopped midsentence and looked at him with its big, not ugly eyes. It looked so feminine… it had to be a female.

"Girl?" He asked the potential lady. It slowly nodded and reached out for his face. Instantly his arm snapped up and grabbed the limb before it could touch it. Then he realized that he might have insulted it yet again and let it go.

It had run out on him once and he didn't intend to lose it- her- again.

And just when he thought about the potential new interaction that he would have to put up with, a name crossed his mind. A nice name for a woman- if only he knew why that particular name came up in his mind. He didn't know what was going on with him- he would have to blame it on the weird mental interaction and move one.

"Lucy." He decided and let the name sink in with his Kirlia. The name seemed to be charged with significance to him- if only he could remember why the name was so important to him. Oh well.

'_**Lucy…'**_ He Kirlia repeated and stared off in the distance as if she was focusing on something. Then she snapped out of it and looked at him again with her large, penetrating eyes. '_**A beautiful name… that couldn't have come out of your mind!'**_

That was it. He would have to completely reeducate the Pokemon- her evolution had undone all the discipline that he had taught her. He reached out with his arm and swept her from his shoulder. In mid-fall she twisted her body and landed on one leg on the ground. Then she turned around like a gracious ballerina- which she actually resembled right now- and kept her balance without difficulty.

Then she stared at him with a smug expression and crossed her arms. So she thought that she could outwit him? Let's see her outwit this…

"Let's see if you can do some push-ups with that new body of your." He said and grabbed his helmet.

The Spartan didn't realize it yet, but the new interaction with his telepathic Pokemon had actually gotten him to relax more than he had done in a few years. Things were changing- but whether they were for the better or for the worse was still unclear.

~0~

"_That last operation is reason enough for even the most battle-hardened ODST to develop a Post-traumatic Stress disorder! You have to let me talk to him!"_

"_Negative Ma'am- we can't let him think that this Op was any different from his previous Operations against the Insurrection. He needs to stay focused."_

"_are you training a soldier or raising a psychopath? Let me through!"_

"_No can do ma'am."_

-conversation between Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield and security guard Hendricks, 12 October 2548

~0~

**Bam! Chapter 11, the One that changes everything. Here the communication barrier gets raised and the Spartan and his companion can finally talk!**

**Or so you would think…**

**Don't forget to review- I need serious feedback about the telepathic interaction. Have a nice week people!**


	12. A new kind of war?

**People! I am back! Better yet, I am back with another chapter!**

**Yutyrannus****: That will most likely come too, do not worry! Thanks for the praise; I am glad that you liked it.**

**ZombieSlayers****: Good, sometimes I think that people think I rush a bit too much. Telepathy can be a tricky thing to work out, it is nice to read your opinion on my work!**

**Siphon 117: ****When it comes to a Spartan, trouble is always a few meters around a corner. There will be more trouble- but will he prevail?**

**The Constitutionalist:**** As always, your review made my entire day. From morning to evening. No worries my friend; you caused me no offense and with the way you formulate your feedback I doubt that you ever will ;) **

**When this chapter comes out, I will be awaiting your review! **

***Salutes back* **

**Solar Jarl The Cannon King 44K: ****Actually, I have already decided on two new team members for our favorite slightly sociopathic hero to take care of. He will only have to find and capture them- or does he?**

**Anyway, I am glad that you liked it. Might I inquire as to what misunderstanding you referred to; I don't really know what you meant?**

**Seagreenshoes: ****Thank you. More you want. More you will get.**

**Guest!**** The first guest? Our only guest? You delivered to us the fiftieth Review! Cyber-cookies and love raining upon thee!**

**You couldn't find the story? Has to do something with my EMP-fingers. People always tell me that I am a true disaster to all their electronics.**

**I don't really understand the Mega-evolutions concept yet. I find it to be a little too…digimon-like? Can I say that? Either way; I have seen the Mega-evolution for Gardevoir- and another Pokemon that I will not spoil yet- and I did not like it very much.  
As for your other questions: maybe and you will see :p**

**Finally, a special shout-out to ****Spartan-262****- whose Emperor-like behavior rather unsettles me :(. Did Palpatine survive or not? **

**I know what you reviewed chapter 10 but I didn't read your review until I had already put up the 11th. As always, your feedback is appreciated. It forms a solid base for me to improve my writing skills on and- when I feel a bit down on a dark, raining day- completely shatter what little self-respect I have. Just kidding- mostly.**

**1, 2 and 3: you are right- but the third one might be a plot-twist :O**

**4: nope, he took what he could carry and left the rest inside- thinking that he might return for them later.**

**5: From my understanding, even though the shielding won't break the force of a blow will still be distributed through the armor itself. Covenant ships, for example, had their hulls bend from the impact of a MAC-shell even though the shielding held.**

**6...where is six? SIX! 7: thank you, I was wondering about that. 8: * blushes heavily* sides... I meant sides...**

**9: I think you are correct. 10: I knew that you would notice that! 11: in a way, yes.**

**12 and 13: yes. **

**14: I know all about the iron-hard discipline of SPARTAN-II's. I will not say any more in order to avoid spoilers. You had me once and I shall not be tempted to spoil again!**

**15: I literary do not know. It kind of scared me when I double-checked it :( **

**16: I know that. But does our little Health Specialist know that? I can see how that confused you though and you had me with the bones. That was my unfortunate mistake- I kind of forgot the injuries that the II's sustained in 'the first strike'**

**17: I located it and gave it a stern reprimand. It shall not appear again.**

…

**So, in conclusion you guys rule. I want you all to know that I read every review and I want to take the time for myself to respond to each one of you. If I somehow insulted a viewer or sounded sarcastic in some way, please send me a message. I have never once used sarcasm in my long pre-story babbling- I think- and I do not intend to do so in the future. Neither do I wish to insult my reviewers- I love you guys too much :D**

**Without further ado, to the story!**

**Ps: I just wanted to say that I had a great time on my little trip and I have experienced some VERY weird things. In addition, injuries, but those make me manly! Thanks anyhow, master**** Constitutionalist!**

~0~

_ERROR. ALPHA-INDIA JULIET CORRUPTED. _

_CONCLUSION: SHIP COMPROMISED. _

_WARNING: TWO-SIERRA ZERO-ONE-ONE INVALUABLE. _

_RESPONSE: RECOVERY GROUP TO RETRIEVE SPARTAN?_

_AWAITING APPROVAL._

~0~

"Speech" Human speech.

"_Speech"_ Pokemon speech to humans

"**Speech"** Speech between Pokemon

"SPEECH" Pokedex entries

'_**Speech**_**'** telepathic speech

~0~

Lucy AKA Kirlia, lvl 20- significant moves: teleport, confusion, growl and reflect

Nidoran lvl 14: significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick.

~0~

"No."

'_**Please?'**_

"No."

'_**Come on, there is so much that I need to know and you finally listen to me!'**_

"You never talked before."

'_**I did, you never listened!'**_

For the past fifteen minutes, the Spartan and his Pokemon had been walking down route 3. The little creature had done nothing but chatter the whole time and he honestly did not know what to do with her. She sounded like a civilian and he never actively worked with those before- so how was he supposed to know how to act around her?

In the end, he realized that this was somehow his fault and submitted to her…unsettling curiosity. They were going to spend some time together after all, so he might as well try to show some interaction from his side.

Partially at least.

"I won't take off my helmet."

'_**You already did so before!'**_

"To save your life, remember?"

'_**But…'**_ The Kirlia stopped talking and seemed thoughtful for a few second; but she never interrupted her constant stream of dance moves. She had been dancing nonstop since both of them had emerged from the cave- something that the Spartan didn't understand- and her gracious elegance was unmatched when compared to other pokemon he encountered.

But why the dancing? There were so many things he still needed to know about her- but seeing as he refused to answer her weird questions and odd remarks, she would most likely ignore his own questions. So he had to find a way to question her without having to answer her own.

And to do that he would need to talk with her. Again.

'_**But you were wounded!' **_She started again, having found a new argument to use against him in her attempts to get him to take off his helmet. Why she was so interested in his face was beyond him. _**'You need to get that checked out, it will get infected or something.'**_

"Nice try."

Lucy's eyes narrowed and her expression changed into yet another one that he could not read. One of these days, he would finally be freed of all these stupid nonverbal communication forms.

'_**You always act so distant…it is somewhat rude.'**_

So? What was wrong with that? Wait…she said it was rude. So that was wrong?

'_**So tell me something about yourself!'**_

Now the Pokemon was just toying with him. It was so frustrating- he didn't want to reply to her in order to avoid awkward conversations-but he also couldn't stay silent; she would keep prying and he had a feeling that he would somehow lose if he ignored her.

Lucy wasn't a hostile- on the contrary, she was a friendly. She was his companion until the UNSC could get him out of there. And- for some silly reason that he didn't understand- he cared for her. He had saved her, taken the time to take her with him and had even wasted a lot of time and effort to try to train her.

The weird tingling in the back of his skull that he had often felt around the psychic pokemon had completely disappeared, but the aftermath was still very present in the form of his Kirlia.

The Pokemon with human-like intelligence, the capacity to understand human speech and as of now- the ability to actually communicate with humans on a mental level. It was completely out of place.

So he had couldn't simply ignore her- he had to play her stupid little game and reply to her questions.

Spartan style of course.

"I am not from this planet." He decided to tell her. That would unsettle her and keep her quiet for a while, right?"

Nope.

'_**Not from this planet? Are you an alien? You look human!'**_

How? How could she ask so many things in such a short notice? She had a childish curiosity for her surroundings and it annoyed the hell out of him. They had passed at least four kids wanting to battle- three of which he had told to buzz of and the last one of which he had beaten with superior tactics and Nidoran.

"There are other worlds where humans live. I came from one of them."

'_**So how did you get here?**_

Sigh. "Remember the ship we visited? Using that."

Lucy remained silent for a few more seconds while they passed yet another corner. How long was this Route anyway?

Then she stopped dancing and looked up at him. He halted too and briefly wondered why she would stop moving for asking her questions. Was something wrong?

'_**So why did you leave?'**_

Why did he leave? It wasn't as if he had a choice in the matter; he would have to go wherever the UNSC wanted him to go in the never-ending series of missions against humanity's enemies. He had left his home planet because it was destroyed by the covenant.

"I am a soldier. I go where I am needed."

Lucy was quick to respond: _**'Really? You blindly obey people telling you to leave your home?'**_

It wasn't like that. Humanity was in danger of extinction and the only thing standing between the billions of innocent people and the murderous Covenant were soldiers- like him. He was a Spartan- following orders and completing missions was his life, there wasn't anything else for him except protecting humanity. She couldn't possibly understand that.

"Mankind is at war- what I want isn't important."

'_**War? We never noticed.'**_

"We?"

'_**Yes…my parents, me and the other Pokemon around us.'**_

"The war never reached this planet."

'_**So you are a soldier. And you are stuck here. Is that why you need to get back to your people? To continue fighting for people you don't know?'**_

That was about right- what was wrong with that?

"Yes."

Lucy sighed and started moving again- this time simply walking on her thin green legs instead of dancing. Had he somehow upset her…again? Why was it so hard to say the right things?

'_**So why do you keep interfering with this world? If you plan to leave soon, why should you care about any of us?'**_

Wait a minute…was she upset that he would leave eventually? Didn't she understand that- unless he somehow rejoined the fight- humanity would fall? That the covenant would eventually find this weird planet too and burn them all from above?

"I need to find a communication array. Then- after I used it to contact the UNSC- I still have to wait some time before they find me. I need to make sure that you and Nidoran can keep yourselves safe when I am gone."

The Kirlia remained silent for a few seconds before finally responding again, catching the Spartan completely off-guard with her next words.

'_**So did you play a lot in your childhood?'**_

Damnit!

~0~

The two of them continued on like that; Lucy asking him completely random and nonsensical questions and him desperately trying to avoid them. Eventually he reached the hypothesis that Kirlia needed some form of entertainment that was not him. So he decided to send out Nidoran and see if he couldn't distract her from her constant babbling.

The small Poison-type was curious to his whereabouts for only a few seconds before his eye fell upon the gracious form of Kirlia- a completely new sight to him.

And then the Spartan had to listen to a chattering telepathic AND an enthusiastic kid. He was very thankful that he couldn't understand the constant japing between the two Pokemon and was content to simply keep walking with them.

"**You evolved!" **Nidoran said once again as he beheld her form. "**How did it happen, tell me!"**

Both of them were walking behind their trainer now; the white-armoured figure kept moving slightly faster than them and they had to struggle to keep up.

"**I already told you…**" Lucy responded. "**Those Zubat and Golbat were viciously attacking our trainer and I had to save him. So I had to evolve in order to save him!"**

Yes, like he would believe that.** "Seriously? You evolved to save him? How would that even work? My parents told me that Pokemon only evolve when a certain change is in the air."**

He couldn't really wrap his head around the whole evolution thing. His parents had only covered the subject because it was a part of his life; eventually he would get to it and that was it. Hunting and fighting was more important as a subject to them- they taught him how to track and prevent from being tracked. They taught him how to survive, not how the dedicate pieces of the world fit into each other.

"**It's true!"** The newly dubbed Lucy replied. "**I saw him getting evolved and I needed to rescue him!"**

"**Come one…have you seen him? Like anything can hurt him!"**

Lucy crossed her arms and grumbled. Looks like someone can't come up with better explanations.

"**What was that?"**

"**He…might have taken his helmet off…"** She repeated and quickly jumped ahead; taking large elegant strides to catch up with the Spartan.

"**And why was that!"** Nidoran yelled and tried to keep up with her. He was still very curious as to how Lucy had managed to evolve- he wanted to do that too- but he wouldn't believe her little story about her needing to protect their trainer and evolving to do so.

Kirlia looked over her shoulder at the little poison-type and giggled.

"**Why don't you ask him?"**

He bristled at that comment. She knew that the trainer couldn't understand him! He could not talk to him about the weird things that had been happening. "**Very funny!" **He yelled and ran past her.

The long road curved northwards as they continued walking. The trainer was still walking at a brutal pace; eventually even his stamina ran out and he fell behind a little bit. Lucy too was having trouble keeping up seeing as her stamina had to be the worst of all three of them. But she cheated by simply teleporting ahead everytime she fell behind a large portion.

He was just about to call out to her when all of a sudden, the human stopped. His weird gray stick snapped up, as he aimed it at…nowhere. What was going on?

Nidoran looked around him as his father had taught him- to take in every little detail, to get an idea of where a fight would take place. He saw a large hole in the wall ahead- a wooden sign was pinned next to it saying 'Tunnel to Mt Moon' and a single human building with a red roof stood a good dozen meters to its left.

A series of bushes and trees covered the side of the road and could potentially hide prey and predator alike. Was that what the trainer was looking at?

No, his stick was aimed at the red building. What was there? Could it be-

-his trainer moved- moved faster than anything Nidoran had ever seen before. He looked like water; fluid and gracious while at the same time reminding him of the wind, lashing out with its bladed edges. In a split-second, the trainer dove to his side, rolled over the ground and stopped low next to him and the pretty Lucy. His body hung low over theirs, his legs working together with one of his arms to keep him in that position while he fired his grey stick at the building.

Thunderclaps pierced the air- multiple explosions echoed across the cliff-walls and suddenly three holes appeared on the roof. Unfortunately, he could not see what was attacking them as the heavy noises were splitting his skull in half. His sensitive ears could pick up a sneaking Rattata from over two-hundred meters away.

He winced as the resulting noise of the exchange of fire pierced his mind. Closing his eyes, he curled in a tight ball and tried to cover his over-sensitive ears. What was going on? Who was attacking them? The pain was so intense that he could barely think; half his mind was consumed by the echoes of the grey stick and his body protested against it with everything it had.

"**Nidoran!"** Someone called out. Why was someone yelling his name?

"Move!" The calm voice of the trainer said. It wasn't stressed out in any way but he could sense the urgency in it. However, how could he move? If he budged even an inch, the pain in his head would cripple him. There was no way-

"Lucy, teleport and get him to safety!"

What?

A flash of brilliant green light appeared even through his closed eyes and he felt his body disassemble. This had happened before: back when he and the then-called Ralts were attacked by the weird human in the Pokemon Centre. He recognized the weird sensation and felt a twang of relieve; he was about to get to safety.

~0~

Lucy channelled her powers through her body and gestured at the prone form of Nidoran. The poor kid was completely caught off guard by the ambush; an unknown enemy had hidden himself on the rooftop and was currently firing his own thunder-stick down at them. Her human had been the first to notice him- even before he had seen the Pokemon centre; a weird sensation had been growing inside of his mind and he had been uneasy for a while. The moment they stumbled upon the red building, a sense of alert had echoed through his mind.

She knew this because she had been inside of his mind as well, studying the iron-hard walls that concealed his thoughts from her. It was unusual for a human to have a mind that well guarded- every trainer that they had encountered thus far had been examined by her and she had snuck inside their thoughts as easily as Nidoran could produce his poison.

Nevertheless, for some reason, the only things she could grasp from Math's mind were his ever-suppressed emotions and feelings. Every now and then, she could pluck a recently made decision from his mind, but that was it.

But the weird sensation that had warned the warrior not to blindly advance- the sense of alert that his sub consciousness had created- might as well have been a raging Charizard for all of its subtlety. Because the human didn't consciously warn himself of the danger, he could not hide the sensation. Therefore, she was able to glean at least in part what was going on.

But she did not like what she found- things were about to get violent again.

The instance that the trainer moved, she did too. While he was covering them with his own body and returning fire to whoever was shooting at them- she devised a cunning plan on how to deal with their assailant. But first, she had to get Nidoran to safety- a task that was rather easy for her, considering the newfound increase in her psychic powers.

'_**Gotcha!'**_ she replied and teleported both herself and Nidoran away. As soon as they disappeared, the trainer was free to move and retaliate.

Which he did. She couldn't see what he did as she had to focus on reassembling her body without destroying it, but when both she and the young Nidoran reappeared on top of a tree, she could hear the distinctive blasting noises of the armoured human's weapon. For some reason, the explosive bangs sounded different. Almost like there were two different kinds of weapons being used? If their unknown attacker possessed the same kind of weapons as her trainer did…

…they would be in serious trouble.

~0~

With both Lucy and Nidoran gone, he was safe to move. The few rounds that had impacted on his armour since he had shielded his Pokemon with his body had caused his shields to drop to eighty percent. He quickly calculated the force behind the rounds as he charged at the Pokemon center. Whoever this hostile was, the weaponry he possessed wasn't as advanced as the Covenant's or even the UNSC's. So the weapons on this planet were all limited to basic projectiles…or so he hoped.

Turning and twisting his body in strange and unpredictable patterns, he was able to prevent the gunner from inflecting more damage on his shields. Within a few seconds he had reached a speed unmatched by humans and aimed at the door.

The shooting had stopped sometime after he had started moving, so the gunner must have realized that his position was compromised. Smart guess.

Five-hundred kilograms of Spartan slammed into the thin glass doors blocking the entrance to the Pokemon Center and smashed through it. Time slowed down as he breached the building and he rolled with his momentum. He had already adjusted his body so that his shoulder hit the doors first- and as he slammed through it, he brought his arms down and ducked low to avoid enemy fire. Then he whipped his legs up and completed his manoeuvre; with his gun aimed at head-level, he quickly swept the room before deciding that it was clear.

He wasted no time and quickly charged up the stairs, disregarding the collateral damage his heavy MJOLNIR armour caused to the interior. Within half a minute he had cleared the entire upper level and the small attic room. But when he moved to jump out the window, he noticed that it had already been breached.

He hadn't done that. So the unknown hostile had resided here? Then he had to be close.

The Spartan jumped through the window and spotted a dark figure from the corner of his eye. The shooter was heading for the tunnel- the same one that he would have to take to advance anyway.

Was he setting up another ambush in there? Then he would have the advantage. The unknown gunner couldn't possibly see in the dark- and the Spartan could. Check.

"Lucy!" He said and slowly swept the surrounding trees and bushes. The marksman already had a head-start and he would need to play cat and mouse in a dark tunnel system. There was no time to waste. "Lucy, respond!"

'_**Yo 'demon!' **_The snippy voice of his Kirlia sounded within his head. He still couldn't wrap his head around that. ´_**We have some information for you! We are getting out of the treeline to-´**_

"To my right, copy that." He cut her off. He had already spotted them before she contacted him and he had no desire to let her think that she could outwit him.

~0~

"**Damn…"** Kirlia muttered when the trainer responded. For the first time, he had outwitted her. But fear not! She would get many other chances to play 'Outwit the dull armoured emotionless and very stone headed human trainer'. On second thought, she needed another name for that game.

She beckoned to Nidoran to follow her and then jumped out of the tree. She did two pirouettes before she landed on one leg, graciously spinning around on her hind leg. How the little poison-type landed wasn't important- she got the points for style, the trainer had to give her that.

"Stop showing off and move out!" He barked at her and dashed into the dark tunnel.

She bristled and felt her cheeks sting red. Behind her, she could hear the little Nidoran male laugh at her.

"**Yeah, stop showing off!"** He yelled and quickly followed his trainer.

Lucy crossed her arms angrily and flung a branch after the kid, nearly hitting him on his head.

How dare he insult her like that! She simply liked to dance, what was wrong with that? Didn't that big stupid idiot realize that his thoughts were so well-hidden, his emotions so well kept, and that his entire personality suffered underneath it?

And didn't he realize that it is the trainer's personality that determines a Kirlia's powers? Her looks?

…her behavior?

She had to keep herself entertained and happy to prevent her own mind from falling into a dull depression. So yes, she danced to entertain herself. Couldn't those males understand that?

Realizing that she couldn't allow her own emotions to get out of control, she concentrated on her breathing. It was a technique that her father had taught her to help her retain control and concentration.

In. Out. In. Out.

She slowly released her breath and decided that one of these days, she would make the trainer understand. But for now, she would follow him once again into another form of danger.

~0~

With his battle rifle at the ready, he slowly crept into the dark tunnel. Nidoran was at his side and he had ordered the little Pokemon to keep his ears primed. The gunslinger would strike again, here in the dark bowels of the earth. And when he did- when he tried to get them again- he would realize that he forgot to make sure that his prey was really prey.

The cavern was dark, very dark. Even with his enhanced vision, he was unable to effectively make out what was behind the rocks. Every now and then, a bat would fly over his head and he had to resist the urge to shoot it out of the air.

No wasting bullets and no giving away positions. The unknown hostile was still out there and blinded by the darkness- a disadvantage that would be his undoing.

"Lucy?" He whispered and took another few steps. Somewhere behind him, someone had hit a small stone and he could hear it bouncing away. Accidently or as a distraction? He couldn't tell.

The psychic Pokemon didn't respond- which was weird, considering how she could simply talk to him in his mind. So she didn't stay quiet because she wanted to stay hidden. It had to be something else.

Nidoran sniffed the air and his ears rotated. That instantly brought the Spartan back to his current situation. "What?" He whispered.

The Nidoran closed his eyes in concentration and then sharply barked. It was a weird sound, his voice was still a bit high-pitched but it was a distinctive animal sound. It had to be meant as a warning.

A second later he could make out a dark silhouette crawling over a rock; its head turning from one direction to another.

Gotcha. The Spartan aimed down his sights and squeezed off a burst. The three bullets penetrated the body and ricocheted off the rock. There was no scream, no muffled cry. Nothing. Not a good sign.

A second after he fired his battle rifle, multiple lights came to life all around him. At the same time, the dark silhouette became completely visible and he could make out two of the floating rocks holding up a jacket. The man was creative; he had to give him that.

But he would have to on a completely different level to be even close to him. As soon as the lights flared on, his visor polarized to compensate for the sudden change of lighting. Shots rang out as the gunner saw the Spartan standing in the now brightly lit room, but none of them found their marks. The Super soldier was simply too fast for anyone to follow and he instantly blended in with the shadows.

Having spent considerable time waging guerrilla warfare on all kinds of enemies, he knew exactly how to use make optimal use of his surroundings. The hostile target had made a terrible mistake- apart from attacking a Spartan's Pokemon- he had tried to ambush one in an environment where he was at a disadvantage.

From the shadows, Math had no trouble getting information from his target. The shooter was wearing clothes that could be called ancient. A dark western hat, a long coat and a black shirt with a large, red R printed on its front. Very stealthy.

'_**That is the guy who tried to kidnap us back in the hospital!'**_ The familiar feminine voice of Lucy said in his mind.

Another thing to add to the 'cowboy' his whoopsie-list: trying to steal a Spartan's Pokemon. This would be over _very_ fast.

"Order Nidoran to eliminate that rock-pokemon." He responded to her. He couldn't let a floating rock rampage around the area when he was about to have a firefight.

"You are a sneaky bastard aren't you!" The target yelled at him- or at a position approximately three meters to his left. Now that he had lost the element of surprise, the only thing he could do now was taunt him. And that would not work on him- not ever. He could open fire now and kill the SOB, but he needed information once again.

So his finger left the trigger and he placed the rifle on his back, without making a sound. The cave was so silent that he could hear everything that was going on. He could hear bats flying around, their screeches soft and subtle now that their numbers were so low. He could hear the fighting between Nidoran and the rock-pokemon.

"Lucy, help Nidoran to neutralize the enemy Pokemon!" He said aloud and instantly sidestepped as the gunman let loose a few shots in his general direction. The man was wielding two classic revolvers and from what the Spartan had seen, he could use them very effectively. But even the most advanced weapon in human history will become worthless when you can't hit anything with it.

He could hear the Nidoran shouting enthusiastically and he guessed that his pokemon had taken down the opponents'. And he was done playing 'know-your-enemy' with this person; it was time for action.

He took a few strides and quickly accelerated to an acceptable speed; he needed to be fast enough to dodge the bullets and tackle the guy, but he needed to take him alive in order for his information to come into play.

The shooter turned around and faced the direction from which the Spartan came- perhaps he had heard him, perhaps not- but he wasn't fast enough. His arms came up halfway before the armoured body of the Spartan slammed into him. The force of the impact was enough to send him flying, but he quickly grabbed the man's arm to prevent him from being flung across the room. With his remaining hand, he grabbed the gunslinger by his face and he lifted the man in the air. He half expected the man to try to attack him again, but nothing happened.

Weird. The super soldier released the hostile and he fell to the ground, without any apparent attempt to recover becoming visible.

So the infamous little gunslinger was unconscious? Time for him to test a theory he had been thinking about for some time.

If Lucy could somehow find her way inside his head to talk to him telepathically, does that mean she can do so with other people? Could she possibly be a mindreader?

If so…then she could break into the mind of the gunner and find out whatever it was that he knew. Failing that, he could still break his way into the man's mind himself. He had received extensive training on interrogation and the subtle arts of persuasion- which he had been forced to use multiple times. It wasn't something he enjoyed- mainly because he never understood what the target felt like and why he acted like he did. He knew how to do it- but not why to do it.

He kneeled next to the unconscious body and silently contemplated on what to do now. First, he needed to regroup with his Pokemon for now and then he would get Kirlia to use her…magic.

"Lucy! Nidoran! Rendezvous on my position!" He called out and waited for the response to come. The poison-type cheerfully cried out and came running towards him, but the other Pokemon was nowhere to be seen.

He briefly wondered where she could have gone, before a now-familiar rustling sound notified him of a nearby teleportation.

"Lucy?" He started, not really sure on how to proceed now. "Can you read this guy's mind?"

The psychic-type simply stared at him for a few seconds before she crossed her arms and looked away, a soft 'hmmph!' escaping her throat.

What? What had he done wrong this time? The pokemon looked a bit like a scorn woman…but that didn't make sense. Women are scorned when you cheat on them- and…well, that was completely nonsensical in this situation.

"Lucy, get to it." He told her and waited for the little thing to work her powers.

Nothing. She simply stood there, not looking at him and still with her arms crossed. She had to be angry with him- there wasn't another explanation. But why? What had he done wrong? It shouldn't even matter! He gave her an order and she would have to execute it.

'_**I am sorry. I stopped showing off!' **_a voice said in his mind. It sounded very cold and bitter- even he could tell that. Was she being sarcastic or something? Could she seriously be angry because ha had told her to stop showing off and get a move on? Was that it? Unacceptable!

"Did I insult you?" The result was almost instantaneous. _**'Yes you did!'**_

He sighed. How would he resolve the situation? He needed her to read the guy's mind and get some information. "Does it really matter?'

'_**Yes!'**_ Lucy blazed in his head. It actually hurt a bit, so fierce were her thoughts.

"Fine. We will have a talk after this-" he gestured at the unconscious shooter "-is resolved. Is that acceptable?"

Lucy remained silent for a few seconds before she answered. '_**It is.'**_ Good. Now that the situation was temporarily under control, it was time for her to get to mindreading.

"Find out what he knows."

The psychic Pokemon nodded and her eyes glowed a faint taint of green. After a few seconds however, she frowned and released the flow of psychic powers; her eyes reverted to normal and she gasped a little.

'_**His mind is too well protected…I can't…can't break his resistance!' **_She said, her voice suddenly sounding exited. Or a bit panicky; that was also possible.

"You can't? Make that your first priority to work at." He responded and eyed the hostile's body. "For now…wake him up."

He'd interrogate the man himself.

He sat back and watched as the Kirlia attempted to slip into the enemy's mind once again. This time her eyes widened and she exclaimed a victorious 'hah!'

Then the figure on the ground stirred and moved- his head slowly turning from left to right. Lucy's eyes narrowed and a faint smile played over her features. '_**I got him.' **_

Two seconds later, the gunslinger woke. His eyes snapped open and then quickly narrowed as the intense glare of his own set-up lighting blinded him. "Who…what…"

Stage one of interrogation: keep the subject confused and dazed.

"Keep his thoughts suppressed," he said and pulled his combat knife from its sheath. "I can't have him thinking clearly."

'_**What do you want me to keep him thinking off?'**_ She responded. '_**I can't simply let his thoughts vanish; they need to be replaced with something.'**_

So she couldn't block out someone's thoughts. Psychic powers were supposed to be limitless; with the power of the mind and all that nonsense. Very well, he would have to improvise. "Can you make him see your memories or thoughts?"

'_**I don't want someone poking around my own thoughts. Memories it is.'**_

"Show him the memories of the various firefights I've had-"

'_**- we've had-'**_

"-whatever. Show him one memory at a time with designated code-word 'speak'."

'_**How boring.'**_

"Do you want to find out why he tried to kidnap you and kill Nidoran?"

'…_**continue.'**_

The Spartan turned to face the subject. "Name rank and serial number," he said. If this man were military he would give away that information without hesitation- it wouldn't matter to the interrogator to know your name and rank if you were already captured and refusing to answer would only result in otherwise easily avoidable torture.

"Bite me…" The man said, his voice weak and his eyes constantly moving around.

So not a military man. The big R on his shirt had to be a designation of this 'team Rocket' he had heard so much about. Either way, he'd have to start simple. "Team Rocket?" He said. The statement would sound familiar to the captive and that familiarity would be visible in his features. According to professional interrogators, at least.

The man smiled. "Never heard of them, I presume?"

Bam. With that statement, he had revealed his knowledge of the Spartan: everyone in this weird place seemed terrified of team Rocket and they knew that. If he didn't know them, then he wasn't from this region- according to their logic.

The gunner knew that he wasn't from around- that he had to have come from a different place. That either suggested that Rockets' influence over nearby countries was very small or that they thought that the Spartan was from somewhere far away. Either way, they already understood that someone new had arrived in the area and that said person was busy taking out their business one town at a time. So how did they know that he wasn't from around?

"Speak." He calmly stated and continued observing the man's features. Even though he couldn't read emotions the way other people could, he could still notice the changes that took place on his face. Then he would simply have to relay that information to Ralts and she could process what the man felt or thought. Very simple.

The gunslinger frowned and he opened his mouth; perhaps to deliver a comeback of some sorts. He never got to speak, however, as an unknown memory poured into his mind and his eyes glazed over. The sudden intrusion of his mind had to be unnerving to him- now was the time to act, before the subject recovered.

"Why are you here?" The Spartan said, keeping his knife at the ready. There were so many places he could focus on- so many forms of pain he could inflect to break this person. It was all so…unnecessary. Lucy would have to focus on honing her telepathic skills.

"Part of a team…" the man mumbled and he closed his eyes. Then all of a sudden his face contorted in pain and he reached for his head. In an instant, the Spartan grabbed his arms again and prevented the man from potentially lifting his uncomfortable sensation.

Stage two: make the subject feel as uncomfortable as possible. This could be done through pain, or some more subtle methods. Cut him off everything that could be taken for granted.

"A team, continue." The Spartan said.

"Four-man cell…searching for intruder…" The Rocket member mumbled.

So four people were looking for him now? That seemed hardly fair. This one had posed only a minor threat to him- and that was only because he targeted his Pokemon instead of him. At least initially.

"What was your task in that team?"

"I…I…won't tell you a thing!"

So he had recovered from the first unknown memory. Great. He didn't know which memory his Pokemon had selected, but he knew that it wouldn't be that impressive. Lucy had only seen a very small part of what he could do and the part that she saw, could have been repeated by an ordinary marine.

However, his patience was declining and he wanted to get out of this cave ASAP. He wasn't the least patient Spartan of the group- but he also wasn't the least susceptible to aggressive tendencies. He slammed his knife into the man's hand and pinned it to the ground. A loud scream echoed through the cavern, but no one came to help. Then he pulled his knife out and repeated the act with the other hand- effectively preventing the man from using his hands.

He didn't notice Lucy gasping with shock in the background and Nidoran covering his eyes with his ears.

'_**You don't need to hurt him!' **_The Kirlia exclaimed indignantly. Why was she objecting to that? A minute ago, they had been plotting to break the person's mind, but now she was angry that he was hurting his body?

Double standards probably.

"Be quiet." He replied and pulled his knife out. Then he turned to the crippled man and brought his visor close.

"If you don't answer my questions you won't be able to do anything ever again. Including walking, eating and digesting."

The Rocket member visibly paled and he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "We were send to find you and prevent…prevent you from…from interfering."

How did they know that he would be a threat? No matter, he only needed to know a few things more before he would end this. "And how did you know I would interfere?"

"Please…" The would-be kidnapper whispered. "She would kill me…I can't tell our secrets…"

"Try me…" The Spartan whispered in turn, bringing his helmet even closer to the male. He knew what his appearance did to the mind of his enemies; covenant grunts and jackels would flee by the droves and even the unyielding courage and bravery of the Elites would waver when faced with him. His snow-white helmet- covered in their blood en entrails- was enough to make even the toughest of covenant warriors turn tail and flee.

And this lowly human- he had to admit- was less courageous than the covenant's warriors were.

"I…" The gunslinger stuttered. "Y-your pokemon…i-it was something w-we had never s-seen before-e."

So what? New species were discovered every day on every planet.

"B-but _she_ k-knew the potential. S-she-"

And that the furthest he got. As soon as the last few words exited his throat, his pupils widened- even with the bright light flaring in his eyes- and his face slowly turned purple.

"What…?" The Spartan started- and then the man started screaming. It was a long, heavy scream that was filled with unyielding pain and suffering. It was unpleasant to hear, seeing as it was the kind of pain-induced scream that torture would cause. How very weird.

Then his arms started to shake and he kicked with his legs- flinging his limbs in all directions like a spastic child. His face turned as grey as ashes and then he stopped screaming. His eyes widened even more- if at all possible- and he slumped back.  
The super soldier checked the body for vital signs and tried to feel if there was any warmth left in the body- it was so grey already that the man had to be dead. But how had he died? It looked like poison; a painful, slumbering kind. But who poisoned him and why? And most importantly, how?

It was only to be presumed that someone out there didn't want him to talk. But what did he know? And why not kill him the instance that he had been caught? No, the poison had to have been administered before his capture. Someone simply either wanted him dead- or said someone knew that the gunman would not win the conflict with him.

So someone else was out there…studying him. It was a bit unnerving to think about; if it had truly gone that way, then he had missed the person keeping an eye on him. And Spartans never missed anything.

Except for the occasional nonverbal communication form.

"Lucy?" he asked, having remembered that the Pokemon was linked to the man's mind. Perhaps she had felt-

"Lucy!" Both the Kirlia and Nidoran were lying on the ground. But while the poison-type was quivering and covering itself with his ears, the gracious dancer was lying on the ground.

Unmoving.

He quickly made his way over to her prone form and kneeled next to her. "What's your status? Lucy, talk to me."

No response. What had happened? Had she been assaulted while he had been interrogating the Rocket member? Not likely, he would have noticed the instant something came close to them. Had someone poisoned her in the same way? Then why hadn't she contacted him the moment she felt something weird- why hadn't she talked to him?

He kept two fingers against her chest and checked for any sign that his Pokemon was still breathing. He couldn't find any.

Damnit! He had to try again. He placed his fingers further down her body- on the place where her chest-area ended and where her stomach-area began. Was he just imagining it or could he feel a faint rising in her chest now?

He closed his eyes and concentrated on his own breathing, breathing in through his nose and out via his mouth.

Lucy's chest was going up and down as well. She was still breathing.

He was surprised that she had somehow managed to cause such a reaction in him. He had felt worried- actual worry. He hadn't felt that since…since…

It didn't matter when the last time was. What mattered was that his Kirlia was all right. "Nidoran, are there any other hostiles in the vicinity?" He asked the other Pokemon, still keeping his eyes on the white form of the psychic-type.

A soft bark presented the young creature's response to him. But whether that was a negative or a positive on hostile contact, he couldn't tell. He would have to move through this mountain Moon with Lucy's unconscious form in his arms, or he could return to the nearest Pokemon center- the one right outside- to get both his pokemon healed. But if he did…he would present himself to the possible contact that was keeping an eye out on him. They would expect him to backtrail after having encountered an ambush inside of the cavern; place another one on his escape route, to nail him for good.

It was what he would have done. And if there was one thing that he absolutely hated- apart from a dozen other things- then it was doing what his enemies expected him to do.

So he would traverse the MT moon cave system while carrying Lucy in his arms.

Both of his arms, seeing as the gal was twice as big as she used to be, compared to her Ralts form. She was roughly a foot high when he found her, but by the time he had taken her newly evolved form into MT moon, she was at least eighty centimetres. Her appearance had drastically changed since the weird occurrence. She closely resembled a ballet dancer now: her hair had split around her eyes- revealing them to anyone observing her- and was now growing at the side of her head in bangs,

The weird red horn on her head had either split or multiplied; she now had two horns- one on either side of her head- resembling hairpins. The strange white fur-like material that had covered her lower body when she was a Ralts had become shorter. Now it looked like a tutu- complete with a subtle revealing of her long, slender legs.

Lucy had turned from a weird, small critter into a humanoid female. Even her eyes were feminine; large and strangely well shaped. Her irises were red- an unusual colour even in the animal kingdom. Why she had suddenly changed like that was still a snag in his battle-plan on this planet. It was a completely unknown factor, unprecedented and unrivaled in anything he had ever seen. A creature that could have such a dramatic metamorphosis in such a short time was…a complete breaking off everything he knew.

This world couldn't be human in origin…this was biologically impossible. So if the world was of inhuman origins…

Then who put all the forms of life there? Humans…Pokemon…

It made no sense. No sense whatsoever.

"Nidoran…stick close but keep your ears open. We don't need any more surprises.

The creature barked in response and relaxed a bit. Since the interrogation session he had been acting a little…strange.

'_**Math?'**_A familiar voice in his head said. Weird…the little pokemon in his arms was still not moving. How could she still be communicating with him? '_**Math…are you there…?'**_

It was weird how a voice in his mind could sound exhausted, but that was just how he would describe it. Exhausted. "I am here." He replied and kept walking. The tunnel was dark and humid- there was no telling what kind of Pokemon could hide out there.

'_**Are you safe?'**_

"Of course." Why wouldn't he be safe? The Rocket operative had been murdered with poison. There had never been any form of danger to him whatsoever. Why was she so worried?

'_**Is Nidoran safe?'**_

Now she was getting ridiculous. There was no reason for any of them to be in danger…

…unless whatever had happened to her might have happened to them as well. She had been lying on the ground completely knocked out. Something must have attacked her- killed the rocket member and left her for dead. But why wasn't she dead? And why hadn't he felt anything? Something was out there and it was trying to mess with him, he was sure of that.

"Everything is fine."

Maybe someone had shot both the shooter and the Pokemon with a poisonous dart? A poison that could kill humans but didn't kill pokemon. No…that couldn't be possible. He would have heard the trail that the dart made and there wasn't anyone else inside of the cave. Someone had poisoned the operative before he encountered him…but what had happened to Kirlia?

'_**You don't understand…'**_

No, he didn't. He didn't understand anything anymore- his entire world had been knocked upside down like a warthog that had hit a pebble. "What don't I understand?"

It took Lucy some time to answer. He could tell that she was slowly getting weaker- and that was very bad. '_**Something hurt me…'**_

"Affirmative. I am still working out what happened. My guess would be-"

'…_**s-something that killed the human you fought with…'**_ she continued.

"-yes. I know that."

'_**No…you don't…you can't…only him and me…were attacked. I was able…to defend…but it wasn't a full scaled assault…never would have died…'**_

"You're losing me. Calm down. What did you defend against?" You can't simply defend against a poison…unless Lucy was somehow resistant to poison which he very much doubted. So she was aware of an attack on her body and she tried to fight it. That excluded poison as a weapon.

'_**She didn't…attack you…she toys…with you…'**_

Who was toying with him? What was going on? "Breathe Lucy, breathe. Who is toying with me?"

'_**You can't defend yourself…she will hurt you…'**_

"Who will? What is going on?"

'_**The psychic…human…will…'**_ And then her voice faded away from his mind. Her unconscious form slowly stirred in his arms, but he didn't pay her any mind. A psychic human had killed the Rocket member? How?

Why?

~0~

"_Two-sierra zero-one-one and Two-sierra zero-zero-seven were both in that mission lady. Eleven simply served as a reinforcement unit for seven- there is no reason for panic!"_

"_I am aware of the parameters of that mission sir. I am just worried about the exact nature…of the Spartans' missions. There are thirteen of them, am I right sir?"_

"_Yes. Not exactly a lucky number- but they all do their part in the protection of humankind. More than you can imagine specialist."_

- Conversation between MHS Jennifer S and Admiral Ackerson, 13 October 2548.

~0~

**Tug…tug…tug…what? Oh don't mind me; I am just pulling on some ropes.**

…

**So let me know what you think about this chapter! More reveals, some interaction and a somewhat meager interrogation scene. Still, I worked hard at this chapter. Especially because I had formulated so much ideas and inspiration for the long-turn events that I felt I was getting a bit…spread too thin on the short turn. You can call it a certain…very small…little…block…that writers get sometimes…on how to advance. **

**But worry not! Some of you may have already seen some changes… a few signals that a broader picture is slowly being revealed.**

**Let us see how much signals you can all spot!**

**For now…until the next time. Don't forget to review and follow…and fave and all the things that you do!**


	13. Women or Spartan?

**Hello people of the good life. I am proud to announce that I have officiously reached the sixty review threshold. Why should I be proud of that, when my goal should be to reach the hundred reviews? Because- as of now- I have an average of 5 reviews per chapter. 5! Yay! My royal thanks to everyone that supported or even read this fanfiction: including the thirty followers and favers.**

**Siphon 117: ****I can understand why you choose that line of reasoning.**

**Chutujr: **** Thank you!**

**The constitutionalist: ****hihihi. Your review made me giggle. I'm glad to see that you think I am getting better- sometimes I worry a bit that my writing style is a bit…repetitive? Unchanging? Anyway… **

**Deadsori****: perhaps :)**

**Guest****: Confusing! You both use such fancy ways to review that I was in doubt for a while. So Guest is the first and TBG is the second? It doesn't really matter; you guys are both great!**

**Well…as great as your suggestion was…I had already planned to do so in advance. Way in advance. I didn't really take your suggestion…but I did change the directory in which I keep the fanfiction saved because I thought someone had hacked it and saw the chattering. But I am glad to conclude that there was no hacker :D **

**Since when are humans psychics…'don't open that philosophical door, it's a trap!'**

**As for your last question…Ehm…I remain neutral on this ground. You made me blush though.**

**Solar Jarl The Cannon King 44K:**** well… He did reload it; I just forgot to mention it. **

**Yes. That evolve thing was a bit of a gamble. It was meant to be philosophical in Kirlia's eyes…but then I realized that I described it very vaguely. It was meant to be a mental step forwards for the Spartan, sorry for the inconvenience.**

**The last one before I continue: thanks for the feedback on the interrogation. I didn't really have anything to base it on except for some old war novels…and my own reasoning. Hope this doesn't mean anything for me…* gulp* **

**Last but not least: Our very own ****Spartan 262 ****– for whose little accidents I am responsible in a way, I guess.**

**My trip was good! It was very good for my Inner writer, but that little cryptic comment will have to remain cryptic for a while. **

**1: How about alien-bastard intelligence? 2: yes. You are right. * sobs* **

**4: DAMNIT! 5: he is having a rough day. 7: yes. That issue- addressed in previous witty comment.**

**8: Thank you, sometimes I'm not sure as to use a dash or not. 9: I see your point, but at some point during the human-covenant war the UNSC was unable to launch nukes via slipspace because they would be detected and destroyed by the radiation that the slipspace emitted.**

**11: FFUUUUUU! I didn't even see that one! Oh the shame…please forgive me readers, I am still a bit used to writing Ralts. **

"Speech" human speech

"**Speech" **Pokemon speech

"_Speech" _ Pokemon speech to humans.

"SPEECH" underused Pokedex speech.

'_**speech'**_ telepathic speech

~0~

Lucy AKA Kirlia, lvl 21- significant moves: teleport, confusion, growl and reflect.

Nidoran lvl 15: significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick

~0~

_APPROVAL RECIEVED. ESTABLISHED AMOUNT OF SPARTANS HAS BEEN UNITED._

_GREEN-LEAF FORMATION ACCEPTED- FRIGATES AWAITING COÖRDINATES FOR SLIPSPACE-JUMP._

_WARNING! LOGISTICS HALTED, IDENTIFICATION OF SPARTANS REQUIRED TO ADVANCE._

_-UNSC Artificial Intelligence Eternity processing the information on UNIDENTIFIED battle-group send to recover Two-Sierra zero-one-one._

_~0~_

The cave-system was larger and more developed than the previous one. There was an abundance of the strange, blue bats that buzzed so annoyingly but less so than in the previous cave. It was strange how the ecosystems on this planet could differ so much and at the same time, remain so familiar to each other. There was a large cave-system filled with Pokemon next to a town that had a gym filled with Pokemon…which lay adjacent to a forest- filled with Pokemon. Every place he had been seemed to revolve around the creatures- was the entire world like this? And endless series of landscapes of differing climates, all inhabited by Pokemon?

Could these creatures even adapt to their surroundings? Or did they remain like they were; unable to change except by evolving into a bigger form? Was there no natural selection or growth here? He knew from experience that big Pokemon would and could eat the little ones. But had there been any extinction events? How long did these creatures live and how long had they been around?

The Nidoran male was still moving ahead of him, sniffing the air and constantly twisting his ears around- albeit slowly- to keep the environment in check. Because the Spartan could not immediately use his weapons when assaulted, he would have to prevent rather than engage. If he encountered no hostiles throughout the tunnel then he could simply get to Cerulean City without any form of trouble whatsoever.

At least that was the plan. The problem was that his 'team' wasn't exactly trustworthy. Nidoran kept stopping to sniff at things and he looked like he was about to fall over from exhaustion- his flanks were rising and falling rapidly and his entire body was literary quivering. But whether that was because he was tired or something else…wasn't exactly clear to him now. Occasionally he would turn around and look at him with a weird expression that kept coming over his features. Weird little thing.

And then there was Lucy. That girl was a complete mystery to him! First she had run away from him. Then he had saved her from a flock of bloodthirsty bats and all of a sudden she had evolved; whatever that meant. How did that even work, this evolution? She had become enveloped in a brilliant white flash and all of a sudden the Ralts he knew had disappeared and a completely new creature stood before him.

Her entire body had changed and then she could suddenly read his thoughts; talk to him in his mind. It was ludicrous: the only thing that could even come close to the experience was the newest Neural interface that could link MJOLNIR armour with a smart AI. But that was still in development- and this creature wasn't an AI.

Then he had engaged and neutralized a revolver marksman who claimed to be unable to tell him information because a certain 'she' would kill him. A marksman who was a supposed member of the terrorist organization called 'team rocket' which tried to kidnap Pokemon, prevent people from leaving a town and even threatened with violence.

And then the man had died because of an- according to Lucy- mental attack? How was that even possible? Someone killed him with his mind? That didn't make sense at all. After that the Kirlia herself had collapsed. And that too was- according to her- because of some sort of mental attack. It had to be some kind of biological or chemical warfare. The man had been poisoned together with Lucy, Nidoran and him. His armour could filter the chemical agent out of the air and allow him to breathe clean air. Nidoran was a poison-type and would be immune- hence why he was still walking- and Kirlia…well, she was a Pokemon. The poison would be tailored to humans and wouldn't have a lethal effect on her.

That was what he suspected at least.

So why was she out cold in his arms? And why would she say weird things like a human mindreader? The fact that she did it was weird enough, but a human? Impossible. Everyone knew that psychics didn't exist and while he normally didn't give a rats' ass about what the majority thought, this time they had be right. How could there be psychic humans? Maybe she misinterpret the human as another humanoid Pokemon like herself. Maybe it was even an 'evolved' form of what she was now.

"Nidoran, stand down!" He said as they passed yet another hiker that was trying to traverse the cave. The little Pokemon was running circles around the man and trying to bite at his ankles for some strange reason. But at the Spartan's word, he backed off and continued down the road.

What was with that kid? His physical appearance suggested that he was about fall over, but his behavior couldn't be farther off that point. He behaved like an energetic animal, desperately trying to get attention of some sorts.

Was it some sort of indigenous life cycle that he had somehow missed? Was the Pokemon trying to get attention from females or something? It was a male, that much was obvious. And males generally wanted attention from females.

Well if he was, he wasn't doing it right. The only female around here was the incidental teenager that was training in the cave. And crazy how this whole world was, he knew that Pokemon wouldn't aim their sexual frustrations or needs at humans. Right? A pokemon was still an animal, no matter how you viewed it. And an animal looking for sexual attention from humans was called…what was it again? Zoöphilia?

But according to other people, the pokemon were on the same conscious level as humans were. So they could be counted as humans that simply possessed other bodies? That made even less sense.

The entire concept of Pokemon being as intelligent as humans and being able to understand their speech was still foreign to him. Even though Lucy was the perfect example of that rule, he just couldn't imagine Pokemon and humans living together like this without weird incidents.

Like Nidoran apparently flirting with female humans. He had to admit; even though the poison-type looked like a normal animal, the Kirlia in his arms didn't. She looked vaguely humanoid, her overall shape and behavior pointed her more towards humans than to Pokemon. So if she- for a completely hypothetical reason- decided to…fall in 'love' with a human…would that still be counted as an animal/human interspecies relationship?

Why was he even thinking about these things! This world was getting to him.

As if she somehow knew that his mind was traveling in weird directions- some of which involving her- the form in his arms shifted and her head moved a little. She didn't wake up completely though, but the little movements were enough to cause a weird reaction in the little Nidoran that was scouting ahead. His ears turned towards the Spartan and he turned his head as if to look at him.

Then his entire body shifted towards them and he barked twice in short succession. As soon as he made the sounds, the earth underneath the Spartan broke and shattered. He was quick enough to completely avoid the underground attack, but he couldn´t help but curse his bad luck as he beheld the new threat that had arisen.

The ground had split open and burst outwards and the gigantic frame of an Onix became visible through the dust cloud.

The Spartan cursed under his breath and jumped backwards. His powerful muscles, enhanced by his MJOLNIR enabled him to quickly double the distance between him and the hostile target. The only problem was that Lucy lying in his arms caused him to be unable to properly defend himself against the wild creature's onslaught. He would have to drop the Pokemon to neutralize it and he wouldn't risk that.

"Nidoran, engage and terminate!" He called out as he kept backing up. If his other Pokemon could keep the big snake busy long enough for him to safely deposit the Kirlia somewhere, he could level the playing field.

But the small Nidoran had other plans, obviously. It recklessly charged at his opponent- which was many times larger- without any hesitation at all. The Onix wasn't very amused by that display of bravery, obviously and retaliated by violently swinging his tail at the poison-type.

Damnit. If the creature couldn't follow orders properly, he would be a liability.

"Keep it busy!" He ordered him and searched for a place where he could properly lay put Lucy down. Normally he would throw her in the air, shoot the Onix in the face and then catch the psychic as she fell down; but with the ceiling hanging so low he would only bump her head and then drop her on the ground.

Not a very attractive solution.

But just as he was about to simply dump her over his neck and pull out his rifle, something happened that made him stay his hand.

The little Nidoran screamed at his enemy one final time before he suddenly became enveloped by a bright white light. It was so bright that the Spartan was actually forced to polarize his visor to prevent himself from being blinded.

He recognized this phenomenon from the time Lucy did it. It signaled an evolving Pokemon- the energy output of Nidoran would most likely be strong enough to completely reform his biological structure. But why would it evolve now? It wasn't like the situation was actually dire for him like it had been for Kirlia. What drove a Pokémon's evolution anyway?

The little Poison-type's outlines began to waver and change. His main body grew larger and bulkier and his poisonous spikes began to elongate. The spike on his forehead became more pronounced and his canines grew longer and sharper.

When the evolution was done, the Nidoran looked…more mature. His eyes had an adult air about them and his overall shape looked more aggressive. The Spartan had no doubts about the situation; Nidoran's battle-prowess had just dramatically been increased. It was interesting in how a creature could change its body in such an intense way without any factions from its surroundings influencing it.

The newly evolved creature growled at its opponent- even his voice had grown heavier. The wild Onix yelled in return and the two Pokemon took their time to try and intimidate each other into backing down. The entire spectacle was a waste of time in his opinion; why waste time and potential elements of surprise in trying to get your opponent to retreat? This entire idea of Pokemon battles was just messed up.

The Spartan watched in silence as the two creatures fought their little battle. The cave shook with the violent moves and sudden motions and several pieces of debris fell from the roof.

"Finish it off with double kick…" He ordered the evolved Pokemon, fully knowing that the attack would knock the Onix out.

The purple animal glared over his shoulder with a look that the super soldier could not identify. Then he focused on the stone hostile again and complied with his order. The two creatures clashed once again and the poison-type jumped for it. It turned in midair just in time for his rear legs to come up and he smacked the snake with two powerful kicks right in the face.

The large monstrosity roared one last time before its body collapsed- unseen muscles no longer got the signals to allow them to relax or contract as the creature was knocked unconscious. Nidoran- had his name changed with his sudden evolution? - emerged victorious and gave his opponent one last angry look. Then he turned and made his way to his trainer.

Funny how things could go.

~0~

The air was still heavy and dark, meaning that she was still inside of the cave. Was she even conscious? Or was the supposedly heavy air only a figment of her imagination? Her mental capacity had increased significantly, but that didn't mean that she understood the workings of the world yet. On the contrary; there were more unexplained events than she could have ever thought. Her world had expanded to the extreme, but her mind still lacked the capacity to grasp it all. There were so many strange events that demanded attention that she didn't even know where to begin!

Well…for starters she could focus on how a human had possessed the capability to nearly kill her using only its mind. Her parents had never told her about psychic humans so she couldn't have possibly known about it! The evil man that had been captured- and then tortured- by her human had also been killed by the human. She was trapped between events and she did not even know why or how. Apparently she had already chosen a side; the psychic human had chosen to target her and the Rocket man at the same time. But why? Was there a third party that she was unaware of? A party that was trying to kill both her and the evil humans?

That made no sense. Why? Because the psychic human hadn't actually killed her. Yes her mind was a powerful and well-shaped tool, but the overwhelming powers that had been at work near that entrance had been so immense, so…intense that she could not have possibly withstood an attack oriented to kill her. So the human had chosen to attack but not kill her while she had been perfectly capable to do so. The thought of it made her feel scared to death. For all her powers, she was still helpless before something else. Something that could kill her and there wasn't anything she could do to change that.

It also made her mad. Why had the human attacked her and not her trainer? Or Nidoran for that matter; the kid would be knocked out if an Abra choose to waggle its tail at him- that was how weak he was to the psychic type. And the trainer…he had been the closest to the evil man. Why hadn't he been targeted? He was the human!

It wasn't that she wanted him to be attacked instead of her- she cared for him and did not want him to be hurt. Also she had no doubts about the difference between their minds. The demon's was well fortified yes, but not very subtle. It was a shell waiting to be pummeled to oblivion. Her mind on the other hand was a refined instrument- or so she liked to think- it would be more suited in mental warfare than the trainer's would be.

And a powerful human psychic would know that. So why attack the stronger mind?

It had to have been a warning. A warning that screamed 'Look how powerful I am!' at her. And it had to have been her: she was the only one in the vicinity that could actually comprehend the warning.

So the human knew that she could communicate with the rest on a mental basis- because it could do so too- and had decided that she would be sufficient enough to carry the burden.

So would it strike again? It had to be after her trainer- otherwise it wouldn't have killed the evil man just as he was about to reveal secret to him. It also wouldn't have chosen a trainer without a psychic type because there would be no use in putting out a warning. It could simply murder the human and move on.

So a warning meant for her trainer? Her trainer, who couldn't possibly defend himself against any psychic attack of such magnitude? That was what angered her so much. The unfairness of the entire situation; what had she ever done to deserve such events? What had her trainer done to deserve- well, actually he had murdered many times in the brief time that she knew him. It was always in self-defense yes, but she had never murdered to save herself. She never would.

And the way he treated his captive…the man had been at her trainer's mercy and still he had harmed him. Where was the honesty in that? How could he be so twisted as to threaten and hurt a helpless man like that?

Maybe he was angry with the evil man. Angry that he had tried to kidnap her and hurt Nidoran. That hade to be the reason; anger would have clouded the trainer's mind. Yes, that had to be it.

Why wouldn't her body wake up? Her mind was fully up and processing information, so why wouldn't her body follow its example? She knew that her physical strength still lacked considerably when compared to other Pokemon, but that was the point! A honed mind over a powerful body. Nidoran was the physical brawler so he could compensate for her lack of strength. Perhaps her body was too tired- the mental attack had taken a heavy toll on her.

Some part of her was angry with her trainer. First he had heavily insulted her and then he could have taken the brunt of a severe psychic attack. She would have been spared and she wouldn't have collapsed. Again. Since she had joined him, her body had been put through nothing but intense training and stressful scenarios. Why couldn't he have taken the attack for her? Why hadn't he thought her important enough to do so!

But then the rational part of her mind had kicked in and scolded the angry part, using facts and logic like: 'he couldn't have taken a mental attack aimed at you!' and 'wouldn't his damage be more severe than yours?"

And then her emotional part remembered the event that had triggered her evolution. The completely selfless sacrifice that her trainer had paid just to keep her save. How he had revealed his own vulnerable parts to protect her.

How bloodied and hurt his head had been when she had finally scared the attacking bats away…

No. Her trainer was obviously new to this world and he didn't understand it. There were so many things that he didn't understand and that was why she was there .She could help him- teach him how to act like a proper human and educate him in the importance of emotions.

If he would let her…

A sudden change in her environment brought her mind back to the situation. What was going on? What was the intense energy-output that she had felt? It almost felt like…

An evolution. How ominous. Who could evolve in her trainer's direct vicinity that wasn't trying to kill him? Could it be…?

Was it Nidoran? Had he evolved? But why! What had happened to him that he would evolve?

She finally felt her body respond to her commands, it was a delight. Now that she had managed to resume control over her own flesh, she would try to contact Math.

For some strange reason she couldn't telepathically communicate with someone when she was unconscious. The problem had to lie somewhere with awareness and conscious control over the body and mind…but she couldn't yet fathom that. She had only just begun with understanding her own body- she has been a Kirlia for only a few hours or so, hello!

The very first thing that she wanted to do when she fully regained control was to scan the area for any and all negative emotions that might indicate problems. She had no doubt about whether her trainer could protect her or not, that was for sure. But their apparent enemies were tough and she didn't want to complicate a situation by suddenly coming back to the world in the middle of some weird maneuver.

On the other hand…perhaps the two males could need a hand. What problem was there that a psychic type couldn't solve?

So she slowly opened her ruby-coloured eyes and looked around. Apparently she was being carried by the human. He was holding her with both of his arms and clearly tried his best to make her feel comfortable. He couldn't fight properly in this situation and she knew how much being able to fight meant for him-even if he didn't.

Even though the human liked to think that he was in complete control of his body, he couldn't hide his behavior. And it was his behavior that allowed her to read him clear as the day.

"Sleep well?" Someone said. It took her a while to understand who it was and when she did, she felt her irritation growing instantly. Sleep well? Sleep? You try being in a psychic assault induced coma, jerk.

'_**No. Your steering skills are severely lacking. Did you suffer a hemorrhage from the recent attack?'**_

"What attack?" He immediately responded, ignoring her sharp insults and plucking the words out of her sentence that seemed the most interesting to him. "You were out when the Onix attacked us."

An Onix had attacked him? Did her trainer have a problem-magnet stuck up his ass or something? _**'No moron, the mental one. The human that tried to kill us with her mind?'**_

"Noted." He said and then remained silent. What was that supposed to mean? And didn't he even understand that she had insulted him three times in a row? Why did he ignore her like that!

Resisting the urge to try and break into his mind to find out, she struggled to get up from his arms. Her body felt sore and painful but she needed to confirm the sudden evolution near her, she needed to know whether or not it was-

- Nidoran. Wow. He had actually evolved- he had to be at least two times bigger now. His body looked heavily muscled and armoured and she felt a faint sense of pity for the opponents that had to face this Nidorino in battle. His horns looked fierce!

"**You look amazing**_**!**_**"**__she told him. She didn't want to have anything to do with the human right now and she was honestly interested in knowing what had transpired since she had been knocked out.

"**Thank you!"** He replied. His voice sounded deeper, more mature. She was curious as to how his personality had changed with his evolution. When he still was a Nidoran he was very childlike- being driven by simple needs and sensations. How would he be now that he was more mature?

"**So do you." **He then continued and walked up to the trainer.

So he knew what the ladies liked to hear? That was an unexpected but very positive side-effect.

"Can you move?" The human suddenly asked her, cutting their conversation short. Oh sure she could, but she was so angry with him that she didn't feel like allowing him free movement.

'_**How about you keep carrying me?'**_ She bit at him and then turned her face away. She immediately felt a pang of guilt for her behavior, but he needed to find out what he had done himself.

"Your attitude has been growing gradually worse. What is wrong?" He asked her.

Seriously? Was he that thick? Did he honestly not know what was wrong? Fine. Keep guessing rockhead!

"**So how did you do it?" **She said, turning her attention to Nidorino again. "**You said you didn't know how to evolve, so how did you manage?"**

"**Well…"** He replied, suddenly sounding unsure of himself. "**You explained that you had found inspiration to do so… I found inspiration myself…" ** He fell silent. Was there something that he didn't want to tell her? Was he keeping secrets from her?  
That was a negative side-effect but she would allow it. For now.

"**Why are you so angry with him?"** He asked in turn and nodded with his horn towards the human. "**Is it still because he insulted you like that?"**

In part, it was yes. He had humiliated and degraded her without a reason and without any form of remorse. After that he had been unusually cruel to a fellow human and had actually tortured the poor man for information.

But what was the main reason for his anger, besides his behavior? She felt furious with the human and she didn't understand why she did well enough. What had he actually done to her- besides being cruel with words- to upset her like that?

"**It is because of who he is." **She decided to cryptically answer the poison-type. She didn't feel like explaining herself to him and she would never let anyone know that there was something she did not understand.

"You two, quiet!" The human snapped and both of the Pokemon grew silent. What was wrong?

~0~

A nagging sensation of unease had been ticking in his head for a while now. It was quiet- too quiet- and he had a feeling that something was very wrong. But he couldn't yet grasp what it was. Was it the quiet? Was it the constant jabbering between his two companions? Or could it be that he had sniffed out an ambush somewhere?

"You two, quiet!" he ordered the Pokemon and then decided that Lucy was fit enough to walk herself. So he kneeled and gently put her down- which only got him and angry glare in return. What had he done to upset her so? Was it because of how he interrogated the Rocket member? He would have to get back on that. But for now, he needed to find out what was wrong. His entire being screamed ambush at him, but there was nothing there.

Oh. Well…if there was nothing there in a large cave filled with trainers and Pokemon…then that was what's wrong.

And then the ground underneath him exploded. Again. He threw his body sideways as the deadly waves of pressure smacked into him. It felt like he got hit by a sledgehammer in his back and his shielding had dropped to forty percent. His body flew through the air and the instance it neared the ground, he positioned one arm so that he had a hold on the ground. Then he twisted his head towards the hole in the ground and simultaneously turned his shoulder to the round. He rolled with the blow and- because of the placement of his arm- immediately pulled himself in the right direction.

That explosion sounded unfamiliar to him…no covenant or UNSC ordnance had been used. So what caused it? Was it another attack staged by team rocket or was it caused by a random Pokemon? The hole in the ground was obvious enough, it had been a real explosion caused by an extreme energy output. But what had caused it?

He Spartan wondered briefly about what to about the situation before he decided that it was time to be curious. He hated curious time- it took so much away from killing time.

The edges of the hole were curved outwards, which meant that the explosion had come from within.

Or from below. There seemed to be another level underneath the jagged hole and a faint source of light. So a new source of hostile activity already? Great. This battle in the cave needed to end and he knew just how to do it.

"Follow my lead!" He told his Pokemon and jumped into the hole.

'_**Are you crazy!' **_Lucy told him, but he was already gone. He didn't know if they would follow him into the hole, but if they were smart they would follow him. They had already been following him for a long time now, so they had no reason to suddenly disobey him.

"Stay close." He replied as he landed. He immediately snapped his weapon at the nearest creature- a human clad in black attire, wearing a black hat.

"Wha-?" She said and reached for her belt. Probably trying to get a weapon of some sorts, he couldn't have that. He lunged forwards and spread his arms- one aiming for her head and the other one aiming for her arm. He stopped his hand just before it could make contact with her head- and kill her consequently- and instead brought it together with his other hand on her gun-arm. Then he grabbed her arm and pivoted to her right- taking her with him by guiding her arm to the ground.

It was a disarming technique that didn't harm the victim, only brought them to the ground lying belly-down. The object that she had tried to pull out was a Poke ball- but without someone there to release it, that would be useless.

The moment he had exited the hole another Rocket member- who had been hauling rocks for some reason- turned around and screamed something incoherent. Between the second that it took to disarm the first member and seeing the Poke ball, the criminal was still screaming. So the Spartan scooped the red device off the ground and threw it at his head. Nothing too serious; he could kill a man by sneezing in his general direction- these people needed to stay alive for more information on his part. A flying metal ball thrown at top speed would be lethal.

The red ball flew straight at the goon's head and made contact with it. The black-clad man fell silent and hit the ground with a 'thud'.

So not completely useless.

"You bastard!" the woman yelled at him from the ground. "Do you think you can get away with disrupting team rocket's operations? Are you nuts?"

The fact that she was still on the floor instead of trying to resist made her current state of mind very apparent. She had given up hope of being able to resist and was trying to aggravate him by threatening him. Wrong choice.

"Don't you think anyone would find out?" He said. It wouldn't help to ask the criminal what it was that they were doing here- she would only ignore him or tell him to go to hell. But if he pretended he already knew…he might get something useful out of her.

Her features contorted and he knew that he had hit the nail. "This stops now." He continued.

"No!" She scolded at him and forced a smile. "This is only getting started!"

How cliché. She was only quoting every bad super-villain movie ever. He felt the faint desire to simply shoot her in her head and be done with it, but he suppressed it.

Lucy and the newly evolved Nidoran dropped into the hole. The poison-type immediately took a defensive position against the fallen Rocket members. It was curious how he was standing slightly in front of Lucy. It was very subtle, but he saw it nonetheless. What did it mean?

"You were supposed to be dead!" The female continued. "How did you escape?"

"Multiple people attacked me today." He said and felt victorious in a way. He had once again extracted valuable information from a hostile- confirmation that the gunslinger was aimed at him. "Who are you talking about?"

"He was supposed to. He is the best marksman in our team; nobody could escape him."

"He WAS the best. Then he met me."

"Is he dead?"

"Yes. And you will die too-unless you give me something to work with."

The woman gulped and looked around her environment- from the Spartan to his pokemon, from her fallen companion to the rocks he was carrying.

Then Math pulled out his combat knife- still bloodied from its previous use- and she snapped.

"Okay! Don't hurt me please!" She practically yelled at him. "We were here to excavate these fossils…usually the only place where they can be regenerated is on Cinnabar Island. But we have established another facility in Saffron city. That is what we have been doing here I swear!"

What? Regenerate fossils? Where they paleontologists or something? What was their interest in fossils?

"And why did I have to die?" All this talking was getting to his throat; it already started to hurt.

"You were a threat. You came into Kanto without an explanation and started disrupting our operations. Rumors reached us and the other cities alike and people started to get inspired to defy us."

She was explaining a lot now. Could he trust her information or was she merely trying to get him on a wrong trail.

"You are lying." He stated and kneeled next to her. Then he lowered his knife until it was resting against her throat- he did so very slowly to prevent her from making any sudden moves.

"NO!" She screamed and tried to crawl backwards. "I swear that is the truth! We were send for the fossils and he was send to kill you that is all!"

"Is it true?" He asked Lucy. Despite of her grudge with him, she still answered him with an actual answer.

'_**She isn't lying- just think about it. She doesn't resist as much as the other person and the fossils are right there.'**_

So she spoke the truth. Too bad she was a member of a terrorist organization; she might have lived had it been otherwise. He rose from his crouched position and pulled out his assault rifle. Even though he had only three full clips left for the weapon, two bullets wouldn't be missed. One for her and one for her companion.

"What are you doing?" She shakily asked him. "I told you the truth! You wouldn't hurt me!"

"If you gave me something to work with. You only gave me information on your current activities."

"What do you want to know?" She screamed at him and a few tears ran down her face. "Why won't you just leave us alone you monster!"

"You are terrorists. You hurt and threaten innocent people." He said mercilessly and carefully aimed his rifle at her head. He couldn't possibly miss that way and he would need all the ammunition he could spare.

"Please!" The woman yelled and threw her arms in front of her face. "Don't shoot!"

He was about to pull the trigger when his rifle suddenly got enveloped by a bright green aura. He recognized it as the manifestation of Lucy's mental powers; but why would she try to yank his gun out of his hands? Because that was what happened. The rifle twisted in his hands and only his powerful grip prevented it from being launched out of his hands. He forced the barrel back to the criminal's head- but the psychic power assaulting his weapon was very focused and efficient. Lucy was apparently aiming her powers at the most efficient targets- the barrel and the stock. Why was she doing this? Why was she stopping him from killing the hostile?

He could easily force the rifle back and still shoot the woman, but he was curious as to why Lucy would want to stop him. In the end he lowered his rifle and turned to the Pokemon, his feelings not particularly positive. "Explain yourself." He asked her, doing his best not to sound too threatening.

'_**Me? Why don't you explain your own actions!?' **_ the Kirlia practically screamed in his mind. '_**You have done nothing but harm and kill since you arrived here and for what? Some sense of war that a backwater planet of yours has experienced? A faint feeling of justice that dictates virtually everything you think and do?'**_

Her voice gradually rose in intensity and tone as she spoke and by the time she was done with that last sentence, she was practically screaming. Her voice was so intense…the anger behind it was so burning that he could actually feel his mind burn with it. It was like a heavy headache.

Even though her form itself did not speak, he could see her quivering with emotion and a red blush had appeared on her face.

The other pokemon was looking back and forth between his trainer and Lucy, unsure of what to do.

'_**What is it with you and your desire to murder everything you encounter? You leave a trail of death and destruction wherever you go and your mind stays as dull and plain as ever!'**_

His mind wasn't as dull now- but he was glad that nobody could hear her outburst towards him; it would be rather awkward. If she truly wanted to insult him with everything she had, they might as well take time to properly do it. It was obvious that this had been bothering her for a while now and if she was to spend any more time with him, she needed her head clear and focused.

"One moment." He said and turned towards the fallen rocket member. She was still staring at him with her tear-covered face, not sure of what was going on. Had she not openly declared that he needed to die, he might have felt more compelled to let her go.

"If we let her go, she will only tell the others about the situation. She could give them valuable information." He explained to Lucy, hoping that he could get her to do as he wanted. "We can't trust her."

'_**Maybe you can't with your terrible paranoia problems, but I can find out whether it is grounded or not!'**_ She responded and her eyes narrowed again. Then, the black-clad human grabbed her head and moaned.

"Get out of my head…" she whispered and stared at the ceiling. "Leave me alone…"

Was the Kirlia actually inside of her head now? Reading her thoughts and determining whether she could be trusted or not?

After a minute of silence, Kirlia relaxed and the rocket girl slumped backwards, breathing heavily.

'_**I told her that if she was smart, she would leave out every detail concerning us. There, situation solved without murder and death.' **_She spoke to his mind. And she might be right, but he couldn't simply let them walk away after what the woman had told him.

"Wait one." He said and once again snapped his rifle up. Before Lucy could stop him, he fired off two shots and wounded both of the criminals in their feet. "Let's go."

He left the pair screaming with pain and walked down the naturally created hallway in the cave. He could spot a faint ray of light up ahead and he longed to be out of this cave system. He had spent too much time messing around and now he needed to cover some ground. "So, you were saying?"

It took Kirlia a while to figure out what he meant, but when she did she was right at it again. They were walking down the tunnel towards the first beams of sunlight and as eager as he was to make his way towards this Cerulean City, he wanted to make sure that he could still trust Lucy.

'_**You walk around with your weapons, thinking and acting like a simple-minded child and behaving like violence is the magical solution for everything! Why can't you simply behave like a normal human being!'**_

The burning was back- it was raising in intensity and he could almost compare it with other levels of headache that he had endured during his life.

Well, she was right. He was acting single-minded because he had a single goal. The fact that he used violence to solve situations was because he was dealing with a terrorist organization. Was she so blind to the reality of the world that she sought reasons where they weren't needed?

"I arrived here and was immediately engaged by the criminal organization of Team Rocket. They attacked me with lethal force and I retaliated. The civilians around these parts seemed grateful enough."

'_**Brock with his bloodied knife and traumatized family didn't seem very happy!'**_

"I spared them. Be glad."

'_**You are unbelievable! How old are you even?'**_

Why was it important how old he was? He didn't even follow the days that marked his aging- it simply didn't matter.

"I was born twenty years ago."

'_**You are only twenty years old?' **_Lucy asked him, her voice much calmer now. Why was that making her tone softer? Did it somehow lessen her anger? '_**You are a soldier…right? A human trained to defend other humans by fighting monsters?'**_

Normally he would have told her that she had a romantic vision of a soldier; that soldiers were merely killing tools for their respective governments. That they were simply lives that could be mashed into countries because their leaders wanted more oil or riches. But all of that had changed when the covenant arrived. The religious aliens had succeeded in uniting Humanity in a larger picture. Soldiers weren't being wasted for stupid reasons- they were being sacrificed for a greater good.

In a way he was a warrior that fought monsters. Monsters that burned people alive and wanted every single human in the galaxy dead. He was just about to tell her that she was right; that he was trained to protect mankind against monsters whatever the cost, when he remembered that memorable day on October 2548. When Spartan zero-zero-seven officially sacrificed his own humanity for the greater good.

The operation had taken place on the planet Chi Ceti IV, where he had been send in to neutralize a possible Insurrectionist leader in a small and isolated village. Zero-zero-seven had been forced to go without his MJOLNIR armour; it was an infiltration mission and a Spartan would be too conspicuous. He wasn't totally without backup though; Math had already infiltrated the surrounding wilderness and was within two kilometers distance of the community. If anything happened, he would see it and immediately take action.

In the end, the situation unraveled in such a dramatic way it had taken him ten minutes to get to the village and assist zero-zero-seven. Both of them had gotten out, but Seven had suffered grave injuries and both of them had been forced to take a psych exam before continuing on other operations.

Everyone else would have broken underneath the stress and trauma, but not zero-zero-seven. After two days he was already declared fit for duty- but the soldier still dreamt about what had transpired that day. He was one of the few Spartans to truly experience what it meant to sacrifice EVERYTHING for mankind. Body, mind and humanity.

So no, he couldn't truly tell Lucy that she was right about soldiers. But he also wouldn't have to lie to her about them. "We do what we have to do- if that is fighting monsters, then yes. We are."

'_**So why the intense desire to murder every human you encounter? Shouldn't you be trying to safe everyone you met, including the team rocket goons?'**_

She was right- had he been a regular soldier. But he was a Spartan and that was who he was. "It's not something I can explain. It just is."

'_**You have murdered multiple times without a good reason. Death- when simple injuries would have sufficed. You will explain why you did that or I will force my way into your head and find out myself!'**_

"Lucy!" He sharply said. This was something that he had been thinking about and up to now, he had hoped that it would never transpire, "If you value your own sanity and peace of mind…you will leave my thoughts alone. You wouldn't to handle it."

It wasn't a threat: if the Kirlia was truly able to read minds- like she did with the female- she could eventually get into his. And when she did, the full brunt of the war and all of its horrors would come crashing down her own mind. It would drive her insane.

'_**And why is that?' **_She replied sharply. They had finally emerged from the dark cave and a colourful landscape lay in front of them. The sun stood high in the sky and the Spartan was able to make out multiple coloured buildings lying in a neat bundle. A large bridge was connecting it with some woods, but the rest of the landscape was pretty much just hills and grass. Not a very enticing place to avoid potential snipers.

"As a soldier, I have seen things which I wouldn't want you to see. Drop the subject."

_**´Only if you tell me why you have such an intense desire to murder!´**_

Sigh. "As a soldier for humanity…it is my duty to defend the innocent. When a terrorist crime organization comes into play, it is my duty to fight it. I was trained for that very purpose."

'_**That is your purpose in live? To fight and kill in the name of peace?'**_

"Yes." He replied, glad that she finally understood what he was trying to say. He half expected her to make a witty remark about it, but she stayed silent.

Good. Then he wouldn't have to worry about potentially diverging military secrets. Or talking too much. His throat was burning and he would need some water soon. He had been moving, learning and engaging nonstop since he had arrived at this world a day and a half ago. With nothing to drink or eat, his body would soon weaken. He couldn't afford that.

'_**Do you really believe that?' **_Lucy suddenly asked him, breaking the silence.

"What?"

'**That your only purpose is to kill living beings? '**

"I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

The moment he said that, Lucy teleported on top of his head. She was balancing on his helmet with her thin little legs and her arms were still crossed. He had to admit that the female had a very evolved sense of balance. But why would she suddenly jump on top of his head like that? Wasn't she angry with him?

'_**If that is truly what you think, then you need some serious reeducating.'**_

Some what?

~0~

The human was such a complicated being. He managed to be simple and difficult at the same time; having the mindset of a child wanting a specific thing more than anything in the world, but at the same time being a genius in how to get it.

He was a murderous unemotional machine, but simultaneously he possessed a pure innocence in what he did. He truly believed that what he did was the right thing to do- guard his species against any forms of attackers. How he did it wasn't important to him, if the situation warranted violence then he would kill.

Or at least that was what she thought. She could be very wrong and her trainer could be a crazy psychopath for all she knew, but something told her that he wasn't.

When she was a Ralts, she didn't understand the world. She didn't know why or when, only that things were as they were. But she knew the inner workings of her species, how a Ralts was able to feel emotions and feelings of living creatures around it.

And just as she knew how a Ralts worked when she was one, she knew how Kirlia ticked. She knew that if an individual of her species bonded with a human trainer, said individual would be the one to understand the trainer the best. No other human or pokemon could come even close to the understanding of a Kirlia.

If her instincts were right, then she would be the one to actually understand her human. No other human or Pokemon would understand the soldier like she did.

Then why didn't she understand him like she was supposed to? His revelation about simply being what he was…about acting like something he should act like… had opened her eyes to him. She had been so furious with him… so incredibly angry… that she had blinded herself to every positive aspect that he possessed. Everything good about him- his noble sense of protecting innocent humans…his selfless sacrifice in the bat-filled cave.

His acceptance of her established dominance over their relationship.

Ever since she had discovered that she could talk to him in his mind, she had been able to let him know how she felt and what she wanted. He wasn't the assertive one- his emotions were under control, but he was so unused to someone close to him – someone like her- that he didn't even know how to behave. She could just go on and on with talking to him and he wouldn't mind. He was so resigned…so introvert that she could say anything to him and he would simply take it.

Like her unfair and extreme way of expressing her feelings towards him. How she had screamed and raged in his mind. It had to have caused much pain to him- any form of emotional outburst was a painful experience. So she had insulted, humiliated and hurt him just because she didn't like who he was.

And she felt terrible because of it. It was weird how her mood could swing like that. One moment she was ready to hurt him and the next she felt so connected and caring for him that she wanted nothing less than to take off his helmet and hug his head.

If only she knew how to take that damned bucket off.

When she teleported on top of his head, she briefly wondered about why he insisted on wearing his body-covering armour all the time. It was rather obvious that he liked it- otherwise he would have taken it off the moment they exited the cave. She had spoken to Nidorino about it for a short while, but he didn't know either.

There were a lot of things he didn't know- he wasn't a great thinker. He had yet to develop a proper wisdom and intelligence.

'_**Why won´t you take off your helmet and show me your face again? Or are you afraid I might find you ugly?'**_ Perhaps she could fool him into taking off his helmet. She wanted to see his body- develop a proper opinion on him. If he was a soldier, he should have some pretty interesting scars.

Interesting scars had interesting stories, right?

"**Why are you so…fickl**e when it comes to him?" Nidorino asked her grumpily. "**He is just a human, what is so interesting about him?"**

"**You are just jealous that you don't have armour." **She teased the big Pokemon. He was acting grumpy ever since they had exited the cave and she honestly didn't know why. She tried to understand the human, yes. But she didn't yet care for understanding the Nidorino. He was nice when he was smaller, yes. But now? Everything he was had changed into something new.

"**I don´t need fancy protection, I have my natural armour plates!"**

"**Well…I don't have any armour. So who is the tough one now?"**

"**Not the one able to fry her enemies with her thoughts, that's for damn sure." **He responded, his tone a bit more friendly than before. A simple competition about armor and fighting had lifted his mood?

Males were such strange creatures.

She jumped from the head of her human to his shoulder. He was so tall and broad, it was funny to move all over his body. It would actually be funnier to dance and jump all over his bulky armour when she was smaller, but hey! If she were still a Ralts, she would only be able to trip over her own body and fall on her face.

Not a very attractive prospect. So she would have to do with moving like that.

'_**So, what are we going to do now?'**_ She asked her trainer. If he was still planning on getting to this Saffron city, he would have to pass through a whole series of towns and landscapes. Trouble was always just a few meters around the corner- centimeters when it involved him.

"We move through Cerulean city, ask for directions and don't act abnormal."

She felt like that last part was directed at her. '_**So that means that I will have to put a leash on you, keep you very close to my side and probably stick a sign that says 'I bite' on Nidorino.'**_

"Who?"

'_**Seriously? Doesn't that name ring any bells at all?'**_

The soldier was quiet for a few seconds before he responded. "Nidoran?"

Almost. '_**Nidorino silly!'**_

"He changed his name?"

'_**You changed mine.'**_

"I gave you one."

Touché. No matter what was going to happen in Cerulean city, things would get very interesting. Even if they didn't get attacked by murderous gunman, crazy psychics or violent Pokemon then they would still have to live through her trainer's direction-asking skills. He was bound to cause offense there.

'_**Let's continue where we left off, shall we?'**_

"You insulting me?"

Ouch. Other continue. '_**No, me verifying you were a normal human being.'**_

"So insulting me?"

Was he sulking or something? She didn't know that he had it in him. What other hidden emotions was he hiding from her?

'_**Nearly there. I was talking about getting to know you better, seeing what makes you tick.'**_

"You sound like you want to dissect me."

'_**Does that mean you will take your armor off?' **_She asked hopefully.

"No."

Damnit. So close.

"So why do you look like a human?"

What?

'_**Perhaps humans simply stole my design.'**_

"Now you're just joking with me."

'_**Am not!'**_

Very funny little barbarian. Let's see you dodge this! _**'Have you ever fancied a girl?'**_

If he was so introvert when he was simply talking with his Pokemon- the only living beings that he cared for around- then how would he be at talking to the opposite sex? Probably in a very entertaining way.

Entertaining for onlookers with a snack, that is.

"No." Damnit! He was going to ruin the game with his deadly 'no' attack!

'_**You are a big guy, twenty years old. Practically not even an adult in human terms. Teens like to hang out with girls.'**_

"No."

'_**Is that your answer to everything?'**_

"No." Stop it!

'_**You are serving me way too many balls here. Are you too ugly for girls? Is that why you wear a bucket on your head? Perhaps you aren't the smoothest talker around. Can you imagine? Hello there good lookin', up for some good times? No. Why not? Don't you want to hang out with someone as attractive as me? No. Oh screw you! No. Sounds like a lot of fun.'**_

"Are you always this chatty?" Not when she was sleeping. She just evolved, cut her some slack!

'_**I just want to improve our standing relationship. It is not like you have anyone else here that is willing to talk to you!'**_

"You wait and see until I meet the next Rocket member. See how talkative that person will be."

Yes. About that. This was a subject she wanted to discuss with him for some while now- he was a soldier, hunted down by a powerful criminal organization. He was also new to this world- he knew nobody and he was all alone except for two Pokemon. But he needed to realize that everyone had feelings- even mean people. '**I see why you thought it necessary to hurt the guy with his silly little hat…but could you please stop harming people on purpose? I hate it when you do it. If I were any younger, less evolved or simply less accustomed to you then I would have been traumatized by your sadistic behavior!'**

It took the human a while to think about her remark. She had sounded serious when she made it and she really hoped that he would listen to her. Even if she was the dominant one in their bond, he would still do whatever he deemed necessary to get what he needed. Even if that would mean hurting her feelings.

In the meantime, Nidorino saw fit to respond himself. "**What are you two jabbing about? I know that you are talking to his mind, but do you have any idea how silly it looks to hear your trainer say random words every now and then? He is going to make a major fool out of himself when he reunites with the other humans!"**

He was right. The trainer was looking like he was randomly speaking to himself- that was a potential amusement factor the likes she had not deemed possible. Thanks Nidorino!

"**Oh I know. Wouldn't it be funny to see him making a fool out of himself without him even realizing it?"**

"**If you care so much for the guy, then why are you being so mean with him? I mean, first you are extremely mad at him and next thing I know you are jumping up and down from his shoulder, playing pranks on him and interrogating him!"**

He was right. She was very privy to mood swings apparently. Perhaps it had something to do with her newly formed intelligence or mental capacity. She was able to understand a lot of new things now, many of which had something to do with her human.

"**Why do you care?" **She carefully asked him. The poison-type suddenly stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened.

"**Ehm…I er..well…" **He began to stutter. Then he realized that he was falling behind and quickly ran up to join them again.

"**You know…get to understand your environment…things you care for- I mean we care for! I mean as a group!"**

He was speaking complete nonsense now. What was with him? Was he broken or something?

Then the trainer decided to announce his newest conclusion. "So I can't hurt people for information anymore. Fine. I can just threaten or mental torture them. Perhaps even shoot something they like. Or shoot them if they don't know anything. Deal?"

…were all males broken around here?

~0~

_SECRET-SPARTANS COLLECTED. FORMATION GREEN-LEAF ACCEPTED. BATTLEGROUP STANDING BY FOR FURTHER ORDERS TO INITIATE RESCUE OPERATION._

_ATTENTION: LATEST SLIPSPACE JUMP OF UNSC PLATERNUS DETECTED. COORDINATES RECEIVED- BATTLEGROUP LIMA READY TO DEPLOY TO LATEST KNOWN LOCATION OF UNSC DESTROYER PLATERNUS._

_~0~_

**Well…it is evening now. The clock has hit 12'o clock and my head hurts. I am tired- yet strangely amused by how this chapter has turned out. It is the first one to hit the 10 000 words threshold and I hope that my dear readers are proud of me. **

**It is funny how all the reviewers interpret the signs that I subtly lay out as the ones that can expand on the small region of Kanto. I am not going to spoil anything, but think bigger! **

**Except for that I really have nothing else to say. I want the post-story babbling to contain a minimum of a certain amount of words, so after a few cliffhangerish questions I will fill this out with the random words bingle bongle dingle dangle, yikkidi do, yikkidi da, ping pong lippitapi too-tah!**

**So. That being said, will our brave Spartan be able to unravel the world around him?**

**Will the lovely Lucy be able to reeducate her trainer in a proper way?**

**Will Nidorino's little secret be revealed? **

**Tune in for the next chapter!**

…

**Tug…tug…tug…tug…**

**Good night!**


	14. Well that can't be bad right?

**Damn people! I have reached a real and proper milestone! This story has officially reached the 100K words , making it the largest pokemon/halo crossover on this site. Just a few more reviews to go and it will also be the most reviewed story of its genre. Look at us being awesome! **

**Let's see…****ZombieSlayers: ****my apologies if I caused any confusion with my pre-story babbling. I can imagine that a bunch of random remarks and answers don't really make a lot of sense. I just figured that the people who reviewed the chapter will probably still remember what it is they said, so that my response will make sense to them. There really isn't a more efficient way to do things; unless I write down their questions and remarks as well. That will simply take up too much space.**

**Mister ****Siphon 117:**** In my understanding, Poké balls get destroyed when put under extreme stress but their inhabitants stay unharmed and get freed. According to the magnetism theory, when the ball gets destroyed then the magnetic powers fade and the organic gets reassembled to its original form. That was what I meant. They got destroyed and the Pokemon were set free.**

**Spartan 262: ****It's a real shame that your first review-draft got wiped when your computer died. As a writer, such things really hit me hard. I hope you managed to save something…? Anyway, thank you for the review. It is really good to hear-read- your opinions on my improvement. **

**Our ****Yatyrannus: ****Thank you****.**

**Sevenar****: Well, I see that as a major compliment. **

**About the flying Pokemon…I'm not going to spoil anything…but I left some clues in previous chapters about the identity of the next Pokemon in his team. Maybe it is a flying one…maybe it is not…;)**

**BallyMaynard999****: that's a cute idea!**

**The Constitutionalist: ****humor is my thing :D**

**You are closer to the truth than you realize my friend. If only you knew what truth! * laughs eviliy.* **

~0~

"Speech" human speech

"**Speech" **Pokemon speech

"_Speech" _ Pokemon speech to humans.

"SPEECH" underused Pokedex speech.

'_**Speech'**_ telepathic speech

~0~

Lucy AKA Kirlia, lvl 21- significant moves: teleport, confusion, growl and reflect.

Nidoran lvl 16: significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick

~0~

"_The project is a success. Thirteen Spartans- that is, Secret-Spartans, are fully functional and working at full capacity. After five years of service, there has been not a single casualty. And some of their missions had odds that stood as pronounced as 1 to 10!"_

"_But?"_

_Seeing as we started the project at an average age of four years old…our indoctrination procedures were very thorough. They are soldiers all right- but that is it. Operatives that can only function as long as they are send on missions and battles- we have been able to glean off some details about their individual personality's ma'am. I will send you the reports this evening."_

"_See to it that you will, Colonel."_

Conversation between Colonel Ackerson and Admiral Parangosky.

~0~

The journey through Mt moon had been a very stressful one. First, Lucy had had lost consciousness and his trainer had to carry her. Then, the ground underneath said trainer had burst open and another stone-snake had appeared to crush them underneath its bulk, for whatever reason.

In order to protect the Psychic-type he had to be stronger; he had to become something more, his current strength had been insufficient and he couldn't defend those he cared about as a Nidoran.

So he evolved. It was just as she had told him: once he had found the inspiration to evolve, he could. And he did. As a Nidorino he was fully capable of taking on the Onix- for his natural instincts told him that was the name of his opponent- head-on and emerge victorious.

He thought that his new body and mind would enable him to better understand the world around him; that he could finally grasp what his trainer actually was and how Lucy's mind worked.

But with the newfound intelligence came such a dramatic change of body and hormones that the world hadn't broadened in view.

It had changed. Smells weren't the same as they were, colours appeared differently and his feelings weren't the same. Whenever he looked at the white form of his trainer, he felt a strange warmth spread through his body and his heart would move faster than normal. His brain would tell him to call down and to resist the urges of his flesh, but his heart told him to attack. To lash out and strike the human down without mercy. He was a male and his trainer was one too. There was a territorial drift in his body that he simply couldn't ignore- the only female in their pack was Lucy. She wasn't the same species, but since when had that mattered?

He didn't know why he thought of the human as his rival, or how the Kirlia had become the point of interest for his heart. Because whenever he saw her, his body would feel the same as when he saw his trainer. Only the things his heart told him were very different. He didn't even understand half of them and the things he did understand, he wanted to suppress and forget.

How was he supposed to know what he felt when his body was brand-new? He was a stranger in someone else's body, unable to control or even understand the things he felt.

There were two things that enabled him to think and act and they dominated his mind. The first one was his brain- the ability to think and rationalize the signals that his surroundings send him.

The second one was a collective of ancient instincts and his own heart; feelings and hormones that dictated his reactions and caused his natural responses to his environment. The two were constantly in a fight with each other and he couldn't find the proper balance he needed. Couple that with his trainer- his rival in the pack- and Kirlia and he had a very dangerous cocktail of thoughts and needs.

He needed help and he knew it. But by the time the three of them had exited the dark underground area, Lucy had already woken up and both the human and the psychic were constantly conversing with each other. He knew that because the dull male would occasionally make a remark or formulate a short answer to a presented question. Lucy had been very cross with him and the two of them were very focused on their own problems…leaving him completely out of the picture.

They ignored him like he was some worthless child; not worthy to talk to. What had he done to deserve that? Was this his reward for all the loyalty he had shown them- the orders he had followed and the pain he had endured all in the name of training? Lucy didn't even realize how he felt and what he wanted and the human-

- The human was completely cut off from his world. He didn't understand a thing about the workings of nature and the things that living beings had to endure. He stomped around in his white shell, without a care in the world and not a thing to worry about. What did he know about leadership? Why was he the alpha male in the pack?

Why did she like the human and not him?

Things were so confusing…so completely out of order that he needed some release soon. Another wild Pokemon had better attack them, or else he would unleash all of his frustration and anger at the nearest target.

The trainer himself.

~0~

The road to Cerulean city was a calm and easy one. A small river flowed down the hill and there were only a few trees in the vicinity. He could see the various people walking around the buildings- life seemed untouched by the blight of criminal activities it seemed. Was there a chance that this team Rocket hadn't touched this city yet? That their arm of corruption had yet to spoil this place?

The Spartan had to admit that the place looked quite beautiful. There was an abundance of water and children- the bridge shone like gold in the setting sun and the air had a red glow to it. It was a picture that could be used to describe peace.

But it was all a lie and he knew it. This level of calmness and tranquility could never last for more than a few days before another incident would tear their world down. A crime gone wrong…a dead body on the streets and the whole city would never be the same. This world was so proud of their Pokemon that they seemed to completely forget the basic needs and desires of human beings.

The desire for power and control. As long as there were normal men and women in this country- people with power and the capacity to use it- then there would be corruption. Corruption would lead to an inevitable war and death would crawl all over this peaceful community.

And soldiers like him would be needed to put it right again. In his life he had only known four years of peace before a war claimed his parents, his friends, his home and his entire planet.

The covenant felt that humans didn't deserve to live in this galaxy. So they had come for him. Only they had made a mistake- a mistake that would cost them the war. They had left orphans- kids that survived the horror of a burning world. Kids who wanted revenge for their fallen planet. The UNSC had made sure that he received everything he needed to fight back against the alien monsters and more. They had given him the chance for the greater good of life- to protect mankind in every way possible.

To make sure that innocent children and people could sleep safely in their beds without the fear to be burned alive by religious monsters.

'_**Hey you! Stop glooming and focus!'**_

Lucy's voice washed through his head like a bucket of ice-water and he realized that he had been thinking about war so much that he had nearly lost his concentration on the objective.

And had almost walked right into the not-so-calm river. The torrent of water had increased exponentially since he had last glanced over it and now it was at least five meters wide, with many thousands of liters of water crashing down the hill in a second.

So when confronted with an image of peace, he would instantly shut it out and think of war so much that his concentration wavered? That was a serious problem. He needed to address that when the possibility arose.

The sun was already setting and his second night on this world would soon start. He had been moving nonstop for almost two days now and Lucy had been with him the whole time. She had to be thirsty, hungry and tired. She had lost consciousness multiple times he had found her and he was forced to admit that he might have been pushing her a little too much.

She wasn't a Spartan- or even a soldier for that matter.

So when he reached the next city he would ask for a place to properly spend the night. He would use the money that he had won from the trainers on his way there to buy Nidorino and Lucy some food…and then he would ask for some more directions.

The three of them continued on like that for another ten minutes before they finally reached the entry point to the city. But when they arrived there, it occurred to the Spartan that the situation wouldn't be as easy as he might have suspected.

There were two official looking women at the gate busy with questioning a group of travelers. He could overhear their conversation without trouble and quickly raised his hand palm-forwards next to his head- the signal for stop.

One of them wore green-black attire that identified her as military. So the army was here? Good. They would understand the situation…right?

Or they could be mercenaries…militia…undercover or corrupt. He wouldn't risk it.

Lucy jumped of his shoulder and landed next to Nidorino, who also stopped.

"Potential hostiles ahead." He explained and concentrated on what was being said. The two females were asking the group whether they were…affiliated with the shady organization known as…team Rocket.

The travelers stated that they were not and the officers asked for proof of their innocence. Great- he would need credentials to enter the city and he didn't have those. What he did have were two guns with ammo to spare, a bloodied combat knife and white MJOLNIR powered assault armour. Not exactly the perfect way to prove that you weren't involved in criminal business.

'_**They want to know whether we are innocent or not.'**_ Lucy explained.

"How did you know?" He asked her, unsure if he had heard her right or not.

'_**Simple. They aren't very concentrated on their activities and they have some pretty big discipline problems, as you would call it. Their defense has lots of holes in it and I was able to glean off their general intention through one of them.'**_

Her explanation left him puzzled- but he trusted her judgment. She was a psychic alright; she had proven that countless times.

"Should we risk them or sneak into the village?" He asked her. He didn't know since when he had sunk so low as to ask an animal for tactical advice, but she seemed to be the expert here. He was a complete outsider to this world and its inhabitants and she wasn't.

'_**Like you can sneak into this city without anyone seeing you. The moment they see a white armoured giant walk into a building, the entire place will be one big police-station.'**_

She was right. As long as he needed supplies, he couldn't sneak his way in. Stealing would be too risky and he still needed to ask someone for directions.

So into the arms of the policewomen it was.

He rose from his crouched stance and calmly walked up to the front gates. The travel-group had just finished with identifying themselves and was cleared for access. When he was only a few meters away- and completely out in the open- the officer saw him.

"Halt!" She yelled and pulled out a Poké ball. "Stop right there and state your business."

How very disciplined these women were; to be able to spot a snow-white seven feet tall soldier with two pokemon advancing on their position from four meters distance, without any cover at all. They must be the top-agents in this village.

Yes. He was being sarcastic.

He had to give the soldier credit though; she had her eyes on him for a long time, ever since he broke the outer perimeter.

"A soldier right?" The female said. She had short black hair and a subtle but long scar running over her cheek. People often guessed at other people being soldiers, but they usually based their presumptions on looks. He was wearing armour that was completely unknown to this world. So he had a hunch that this woman recognized him as a soldier based on a trait that every soldier themselves shared:

The ability to recognize other soldiers.

So this lady had to be either an observant civilian, or a stressed-out soldier.

"State your name rank and intention!" She said and put her hand on her side-arm. Yes. Obviously military.

He straightened his back and involuntary lifted his head. There was a shining medal that adorned her chest. There was no mistake about it; those were military credentials alright.

It identified her as a Lieutenant commander. Had she been UNSC she would have been his superior; hence the natural reaction of his body at the sight of it. Years of military indoctrination weren't simply blocked out by circumstances and even though the badge wasn't exactly a look-alike with the UNSC counterpart, the very sight of it made him want to salute.

Of course he suppressed it. She wasn't his superior and as much as he was yearning for orders and clarification, she couldn't provide them.

"Petty officer Two-sierra zero-one-one." He said loud and clear, so the policewoman would recognize him as a soldier as well.

"What?" She immediately said and threw her Poké ball to the ground. "Growlithe, come on out!" She yelled and unleashed a white-red canine.

Wasn't that she same Pokemon he had seen in Viridian forest? Probably a police dog or something.

It growled and barked at him and in an instant, Nidorino stood in front of the Spartan. The purple and the red animals were growing and snarling at each other, just as the super soldier and the two women were staring at each other.

"Stand down Christie…" The black-haired whispered at her partner. Of course he heard it too.

"I come from Pewter city. I cleared out a team Rocket blockade and made my way here…" he carefully said. If these people were corrupt, he would see it. And he would take action. "Then I disrupted an excavation operation of the same organization in Mount moon. Don't you control the situation soldier?"

Now he had struck first. His negative opinion of this village had been made clear and these two needed to know that they were of no consequence to him.

"Why you…show some respect!" The policewoman yelled and the canine barked twice in agreement, but the soldier put her hand on her friend's shoulder and whispered that she needed to relax. Again.

"Proof it!" The soldier replied. "We have had no contact with Pewter for a long time now. If what you say is true, then you should be able to proof it right?"

Without saying a word, the Spartan reached for his the badge that he had received from Brock and showed it to the soldier.

`Wha-" The policewoman responded and lowered her hands. "He speaks the truth, he is clean."

Clean? Had she seen his armour?

"I can see that Chris…okay sir. You may proceed-"

Finally.

"-but you will have to strip your weapons and surrender them to us. Otherwise we can provide you no security or access to our town.

Sigh. Of course.

"That is not going to happen…" He slowly said and prepared himself for a quick close-combat fight. He would have to disarm both of them without killing them and then see if he couldn't enter the city without being spotted as the person who knocked the two guardians out.

"Then you can't enter the town. I am sorry soldier, but we can't trust you and we need to keep this place safe!" The black-haired woman responded.

"I need to get to Saffron city. There is a communication array and I need to contact my people!" He replied, still trying to keep civil.

"I can't let you…" She fell silent as Lucy stepped into view from behind the Spartan. The two of them stared at each other for half a minute while the Spartan and the policewoman were staring at them.

Eventually, the soldier swallowed and lowered her gaze. "I see…" She said and stepped aside. "I trust you. You may enter."

He wasted no time asking questions and quickly waked past the gate.

"What was that about?" He asked Lucy when they were almost at the Pokemon Center.

'_**I told her that you could be trusted. And she trusted my judgment.´**_

"She trusted you? Why?"

'_**Because individuals of my species are very careful at picking the humans with whom they bond. She saw me with you and guessed that you could be trusted.'**_

What a load of crap. If he had been ordered to, he would have eliminated those two without a second thought and proceeded to burn the village down. How could Lucy be so sure that he was a good person? He wasn't even sure of that himself- there was no distinct line between good and bad. He simply was- and he simply did as he was told.

'_**So what will we do next?' **_Lucy then asked him.

Well…he wanted to buy some food for her and Nidorino and then spend the night at the Pokemon Center if at all possible. So they would take some R&R and prepare for the coming days-

-which would probably mean a picnic in her eyes. Eating at a place where one would sleep.

"Picnic." He simply said and continued on to the nearest Poké mart. He still had no idea what Pokemon were meant to eat. Did they consume specialized food? Where they supposed to eat raw meat or vegetables? Berries?

Nidorino's ears turned and focused on him as soon as he spoke the word. He growled something and then picked up the pace.

'_**You got him excited! ´ **_Lucy explained and hurried to run past him. Both of his Pokemon were moving at top speed to the Poke Mart and seemed to be very excited about the prospect of food. Was he a bad trainer or something? Were food, water and safe shelter really such extreme luxuries that they completely forgot about everything else?

Well…he hadn't really paid attention to the needs of his companions. Perhaps he should have realized that normal creatures required sustenance to keep going.

Nidorino came in too fast. The distance between him and the doors of the market was getting smaller and smaller until the bulky poison-type smashed into them. He hadn't been able to stop in time and his full frame came to a sudden stop against the glass door- which shook and trembled with the force of the impact.

Lucy came in second- both she and the male had been racing each other to the blue building, but unlike her friend she had been able to skid to a halt before she crashed into the door.

The sight of Nidorino crashing into the building with so much clamour and violence and petite Lucy desperately trying to lower her speed to avoid the same fate was…weird. A faint sense of…agreement? Satisfaction? Rose in him and he didn't understand what it meant. Why was it a good thing that these two were acting like clowns?

And then he heard a curious sound. It sounded- with a lack of better judgment- nice. It was a positive sound- sounding not unlike music. He had once heard a fellow Spartan describe something as mysterious but beautiful and he had to agree that the description was spot on.

This musical sound was mysterious. It took him a while to realize that the mysterious sound was in fact Lucy laughing. She was so amused by Nidorino that she had broken into laughter and that was what was mesmerizing him like that.

He briefly wondered about the mystical effects that the psychic's laughing had at him before he pushed those thoughts away. Not important.

He walked up to the building and carefully grabbed the handle. When he had just received his augmentations- a good seven or eight years ago- he had accidentally broken a lot of equipment and weaponry because of his newfound strength. He had been one of the lucky ones though; Spartans zero-zero-seven and zero-one-zero had both accidentally killed their instructors in their first new martial arts sessions with them.

It had been an unfortunate development.

So when he tried to open the door, he was being gentle to prevent it from breaking.

That was weird. It wouldn't open, but he could see light shining through the door. The shop was not closed, but why wouldn't the door open?

"What is going on there?" Someone yelled, much to his annoyance. His Pokemon had ruined any element of surprise that he might have and now he would have to deal with curious people. But didn't he recognize that voice? He did; he had heard her before.

It was the female soldier.

"What are you doing!" She said and quickly walked up to him. "Are you breaking into this shop? I thought you were clean!"

"I'm not breaking in. He is." He gestured at the poison-type, who was still hanging around near the place where he had slammed into the door. Why hadn't he moved? And what was Lucy doing?

The little psychic was pulling at the Nidorino's ears, trying to get the guy to move backwards. Why was that? What was she- oh. Well…

Nidorino was stuck in the glass- his horn had pierced the door and he couldn't get out. It was an amusing sight, but he was wasting time and his Pokemon were making a fuss.

"What is he doing?" The female slowly asked him. Was it just him, or could he actually see her patience declining rapidly?

"He appears to be stuck…" He replied.

"Get him out." He turned towards her- his full seven feet of heavily armored, threatening and all so deadly body facing her. "I don't take orders."

"What kind of soldier are you?" She bit at him. "You show up here without your unit, wearing some new experimental armour and armed to the teeth, telling how you need to get into Cerulean city without explaining why and then you proceed to ignore a direct order from your superior officer?"

There it was. The presumption that he was a member of their little localized law-enforcement unit. He needed to clarify this to prevent any possible clash with the local military.

"You are not my superior officer." He stated. "I am not from this area- and I do not answer to anyone."

"Where are you from?"

'_**Watch out…before you know it, there will be two of you!'**_ Lucy said.

What did she mean with that? "You wouldn't understand." He decided to tell the soldier.

"Try me." She crossed her arms and slightly lowered her head, making sure to keep eye-contact with him. He recognized that stance. It was the same as Lucy's when she set her mind to be unusually stubborn. Before he knew it, there would be two of them.

Yes, two annoying females that wanted to tell him what to do. Why couldn't anything ever be simple? He had no idea how to act around people- let alone females with an air of command. He wouldn't try to explain this impossible situation again- to do so was to accept it. He wouldn't.

"No." He simply said and looked at Lucy. "Get him out." He told her.

'_**You are not my superior officer!'**_

What was that supposed to mean?

"Yes I am."

Was this woman giving her ideas on how to be even more defiant?

'_**Fine.'**_

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't get Christie to arrest you right away!" The soldier hissed at him. He could give her three reasons why she shouldn't do that- all of them coming at her at one burst. But if he started shooting innocent soldiers because they got in his way, he wouldn't be worth the name Spartan. He wouldn't hurt the woman in any way, but he would do whatever it would take to get her out of his way.

He turned to face the soldier once more while Lucy was busy freeing Nidorino. "I come from a place very far away- under direct command of an organization you don't know. Nobody knows. I need to get to Saffron city in order to contact them- call for evac. In the meantime I will bring any Rocket organization to a halt."

It was a large mouthful and his throat was already aching in protest. Why? Why was it so necessary to talk to people?

"That is an impressive story. If there were any other soldiers around…or if team Rocket was an inch less threatening I wouldn't accept it. But for now, you are free to go."

Free to go. Like she had to say anything about that. "Good to know." Lucy had finished with freeing Nidorino and she was still giggling about the hilarity of the situation. '_**So? Shopping time?' **_She asked him, but he didn't respond. He watched the lady-soldier turn around and walk away, taking her silly suggestions and complications with her.

Things were going so completely out of place that he didn't know what to do know. Where was he even? In some impossible backwater planet that the UNSC couldn't have possibly ever colonized? Surrounded by impossible creatures that defied the most basic laws of nature, being able to spew water and read minds?

Stuck between systems in some town nobody has ever heard of, desperately trying to get back to the only thing in his life that made sense: war.

But he would never be able to return…would he? There couldn't even be the slightest chance for him to ever get reunited with the UNSC. He was stuck on this planet with thick dumb people, an aggressive purple dog and…and…

And Lucy. The psychic humanoid that had insulted him, berated and belittled him like a…a mother would a child.

And he had taken it. He had accepted her judgment because she had peered right into his mind, said just the things that needed to be said. She knew that he was trying to get away from this planet- to abandon her- and she still stuck with him. She still helped him. If she was able to keep trusting him…then why couldn't he trust her?

And as sudden as his little fit had come, he felt disgusted by it. He had never given up hope like that- not ever. Even if things seemed impossible he still persevered because that was what needed to be done. If he gave up- for whatever reason on whatever mission- innocent people would day.

He couldn't allow little fits of self-pity and misery! He had a job to do- a duty to fulfill. Why had he even felt that doubt? Doubt was an emotion and he did not have those. Or at least he didn't feel them. Was there some outside influence that was somehow putting thoughts in his head?

'_**Are you alright? You have been staring at that lady ever since she left. You are simply staring blankly into the air!'**_

What? Oh yes, picnic. "I'm fine. Let's get some supplies." He absentmindedly shook his head and proceeded to open the door and walk inside the store. The shopkeeper was busy talking to some woman he didn't know and the rest of the store was filled with elderly people. There were at least four senior citizens- all female- and two older men. All of them had to have at least hit their retirement age.

Thankfully not a single one of them noticed him entering the shop; which was weird, considering how he had made his initial entry. Well, actually Nidorino did, but as his trainer- caretaker! - He was responsible for the Pokémon's actions.

He couldn't just keep calling the guy by his species name. He needed a nickname- but unlike with Kirlia, he just couldn't come up with one. Guess he lacked inspiration still…

He took a long look around the store and took a step forwards. As soon as he had cleared the way, both of his Pokemon stormed the store like they were suicide grunts about to blow up a scorpion tank. At least the bulky male had the sense of decency to act nonchalant when entering the store- but the moment he was well on his way towards the food department, he too lost all of his manners.

The Spartan sighed as he watched both of his Pokemon rampage through the store, searching for their favorite snacks. It was curious that the creatures knew what they liked, even though he could have sworn that they had never seen the objects before.

Lucy was the worst of the duo. For some reason she had taken a particular interest in the sweets-department of the store and she was constantly teleporting and jumping between a few cabinets of stored items.

'_**What is this? What is that! This looks tasty! Can I have this? Ooh that is shiny!'**_

She was literary spamming his mind with all kinds of remarks and the worst thing was that she had to dive between the various elderly women to get to her points of interest. The seniors had to actually stand back and take cover or risk being knocked over by the overenthusiastic Pokemon.

He didn't want to apologize for their behavior, but he did feel responsible for how they acted. It was kind of his fault that they were this hyped up for food- had he seen fit to feed them more, they wouldn't be worshipping any edible products like fanatical Brutes right now.

He saw two of the grandmas slowly walk up to the psychic type and he realized that they were going to interact with her. He was just about to step forward and somehow divert their attention, when Lucy contacted him with another fifty spam-messages.

'_**That looks disgusting! Shoot it! No wait, I will destroy it myself. Is that chocolate? Is it? I love chocolate! Please let me have it! Please!'**_

It would be funny to hear her beg for the unimportant pieces of luxury that chocolate was and he would have commented on her choice of words, had he not suddenly felt a white-hot needle being driven into his head. The pain was unlike the burning sensation he had felt when Lucy was mad at him- this was something else. It was comparable to a bullet-wound; so consuming was the pain. What was causing it? He could see that nothing had changed inside of the small building, so it couldn't be an outside factor. So what was it?

He tried to block it out once and failed. Why couldn't he simply ignore this pain? What was it? He concentrated on his breathing and managed to resist the urge to grab his head. He stayed motionless and rigid while he battled the searing pain inside of his head. Slowly but steadily, he forced the pain away until he was able to move and speak without being influenced by the sensation.

Nobody had realized what had happened and everything was still the same.

He shook his head once and walked towards the women. "Ten-hut!" He barked and his two Pokemon immediately dropped what they were doing- literary in the Kirlia's case- and turned to face him.

So did everyone else in the store.

He had to think quickly, or else the unwanted attention could turn into negative attention and he didn't want that to happen.

"Secure precious cargo and proceed to rendezvous on my position." He continued and then gave a subtle sideways nod with his head- an indication to his Pokemon that they were allowed to continue on their way.

The two of them looked at each other for a brief moment before continuing their desperate search for enlightenment in the form of food. Nidorino was a bit more rigid and focused now- that kid was a better soldier than Lucy was.

But every single detail in her behaviour identified her as a civilian, unused to command, whereas the poisonous Pokemon seemed to be able to carry out his orders without doubt or problems. That could prove important to remember later on.

For now, the Spartan had to simply accept their behaviour as what it was and try to ignore them the best he could until they had found what they were looking for. That also meant ignoring the various whispers and conversations that had started about him and his Pokemon in the store. The two elderly males were concentrating on his military way of acting and where he was most likely to have come from, whereas the four senior women were busy focusing on the Kirlia.

"How cute!"

"I have never seen one of those."

"I heard of them sometime ago…"

"Would you look at that cute little face!"

What was with aged people and their fetish for cute things? Was Lucy honestly that cute in their eyes? He would have thought that Nidorino might beat her at cuteness. But who was he to judge? He thought a combat knife to be prettier than most females, so what did he know?

He slowly walked up to the counter and turned towards the interior of the shop, trying to keep his eye in everyone inside.

"Tough crew aye?" The man behind the counter smiled. He was an old man too- he missed two teeth when he smiled and he wore an eye-patch over his right eye.

"You have no idea…" The Spartan sighed in agreement. Nidorino had managed to knock over two boxes of berries and he had already started to down their contents. Lucy on the other hand was still getting her satisfaction from being in the spotlights with the elderly women. She was smiling and dancing in front of them while they kept making her compliments and clapping for her.

Humans were strange beings. They were able to do the most terrible things without any form of doubt, but certain individuals were the exact opposite of how evil was portrayed. Just like these ladies: they were kind, happy and honestly impressed with a strange pokemon they didn't even know. That while said Pokemon found it necessary to present some humans she had never met with a gracious dancing show.

Why wasn't the world simpler…or less stupid?

"Exfil in thirty seconds." He stated and put some money on the counter. "For the berries."

The second he even slightly turned his back on the ravaging Pokemon, he heard the sound of breaking glass. He immediately spun around- assault rifle at the ready- to see what had happened this time.

Nidorino had smashed through a vitrine case to get to some vegetables. Normally he would have instantly recalled the Pokemon to his ball, but if he did that then the animal would stay hungry and the glass would have been broken for no reason.

"Enough!" He said loudly and once again, all eyes were on him. Damnit. "Fall in line, now!"

The two creatures came running- or teleporting in Lucy's case- when he called them and finally the situation was a bit under control.

He placed a few more of the weird currency on the counter. "For the broken glass."

The man laughed- a sharp, birdlike sound. It was rather…disturbing.

Lucy jumped up the counter with multiple bars of chocolate and other sweets in her arms. Was she seriously going to eat all those? Why didn't she choose the healthy food, like her partner?

Who had managed to break half the store down in his search for healthy food. So his Pokemon chose to be either extreme…or extreme. Kind of how he liked to handle situations.

He put some coins down and quickly calculated what he had paid and how much the items would cost. "For the food."

The man merely smiled at him and grabbed the money. He quickly counted it and then gave him the change.

"Are you going to eat that all?" The Spartan asked her later, when they moved out of the store.

'_**You said that it was going to be a picnic. Why didn't you get anything?'**_

Why hadn't he chosen any food? He knew he didn't need any sustenance until at least a week –he would start to feel weak and only then he would get something to eat. He wouldn't risk taking his helmet off in hostile areas where someone could potentially poison him when it wasn't absolutely necessary.

'_**I have never once seen you eat or drink!' **_Lucy continued. '_**You have been moving constantly since you found me; don't you need to feed? Rest? Relax and have some fun?'**_

When would she start to get the message? "I don't need fun."

The Pokemon Center was only a few minutes away from the shop and the simple journey was spend in awkward silence. He knew that he had to teach the Nidorino -for whom he still needed a name- to not simply break into a store to get whatever he wanted. His money supplies had been reduced to two-third of what it used to be and he wasn't looking forward to spending more than needed. Who knows when he might need it for something useful?

He had told Lucy to carry her food herself. It was a good lesson that he wanted her to learn: never take more than you need. But the smartass had only smiled at him when he had told her and when she thought that he wasn't looking, she had proceeded to levitate the items with her psychic powers and move them that way.

He didn't care. When he could contact the UNSC at Saffron city he would soon be released from this unknowing little world. It would be a shame to leave Lucy behind though, he had thought about the possibility to take her with him but he had already discarded the idea once and he did so again.

There wasn't anything that the UNSC could offer her safe for laboratories and experiments. A psychic humanoid? Either they would assume he had found a new alien species or some rare indigenous animal. Either way they would probably dissect her or something twisted like that. ONI were the ones that supplied his equipment and missions –including transportation- but that didn't mean he always had to agree with them. Usually he simply didn't care for their methods or means if they could get the job done – or allow him to get the job done- but for the first time, he thought that an extreme action of the Office of Naval Intelligence would be unnecessary.

So to prevent that from happening he would have to leave Lucy behind when the time came. In the meantime he would simply be glad that the pain inside of his head had finally subsided. What could have caused it?

'_**There is our room!'**_ Lucy enthusiastically yelled and took the lead in their trip to the Center. She arrived first- followed by Nidorino and him. The doors slid open without difficulty and the trio was able to enter.

"Good evening! How may I help…" The nurse who sat at the counter smiled at their entry, but her smile quickly faded away and game way for a shocked expression. He had no time or patience for gaping civilians and quickly crossed the distance between the counter and him.

"A room for the night." He flatly stated and waited for her response. But much to his annoyance, the Kirlia teleported onto the counter and stepped between the Spartan and the nurse.

'_**He means that it has gotten too dark to travel and that we are stuck in this pretty little town. Could you please point us to a room where we can spend the night?' **_She told both of them with her mind.

The nerve of that little Pokemon! Who was she to interfere with his operations? Had she completely detached herself from his command? He would have to have a serious talk with her when they were alone.

"A room? Well…there is one upstairs. Shall I accompany you there or…?

"No." The Spartan responded and with a sharp nod of his head, sent Nidorino upstairs to scout ahead. At least the male Pokemon still obeyed his orders.

'_**Thank you miss! Have a good night!' **_Lucy courtly said and teleported away. Not next to his feet, not somewhere else around him, just away.

What was wrong with them? Why had his pokemon suddenly forgotten every single lesson that he had taught them?

He sighed and followed the direction in which Nidorino had run off to. He was bound to find the creature somewhere upstairs in front of an empty room or something. The good thing about the poison-type was that his good sides were still greater than his bad sides- something which couldn't be said for Miss Lucy. The Pokémon's attitude had been decreasing steadily for a while now. This might all be an adventure to her, but to him this was a waste of time.

It took him a minute or so to find the poison-type, but when he did he wasn't surprised to find Lucy sitting next to him.

'_**What took you so long!' **_ She remarked. He didn't answer her and pulled the assault rifle from his back. He would soon need some more ammunition so he would have to be careful with his shots. He kept the weapon at the ready and slowly opened the door. He entered the room barrel first- taking great care to sweep the corners and every possible hiding spot.

"Clear." He said and felt Nidorino run past him to investigate the new place where they would spend the night. The sun had nearly set and he had a perfect view on the setting star from the one window in the room. There were two beds standing next to each other to the left and a large cabinet standing to the right. A single chest stood in the corner and a small lamp hung from the ceiling, not looking particularly bright when turned on.

'_**A bed? What intense luxuries are brought upon us?' **_Lucy joked and teleported on top of the bed. '_**Dibs.' **_Didn´t she ever get tired of using her powers all day long? And since when did Pokemon have a concept of using human phrases like that?

The Spartan looked around again and noticed a small alarm clock standing next to the bed. It read 18:10.

So it was actually evening now. This was the first time he had ever seen a time-keeping device on this world and it was ridiculous how much it looked like the normal human ones. The humans that DID made sense at least. Well, it wouldn't do him any good to keep pondering about these things. It was time to organize and prepare for the next day.

"Grab some R and R, we rest in three and woke at six."

The two Pokemon stopped what they were doing and turned to face him, blank expressions on their faces. It occurred to him that he had not yet used this military slang with them before and that it would most likely not make any sense.

"Bedtime in three hours. We rise at six 'o clock."

He could have sworn that the pair did the Pokemon equivalent of 'oooohhhh!' that humans did when they suddenly understood something.

'_**Why so soon?' **_the Kirlia asked him. Nidorino barked at him and the psychic turned to face him. '_**He wonders the same thing.'**_

"Dawn is when the enemy lets their guard down. We can strike early and prevent being struck at ourselves." He had a hunch that his companion's would keep asking him questions, so he decided to think of something to keep that from happening.

"Have fun." He turned and grabbed hold of the cabinet. It was large wooden piece of furniture that had a flat backside- which would work well enough for his plans. He happened to glance behind him and noticed that the two creatures were watching him with fascination.

"Now."

That shook them out of their trance. Lucy immediately stood and jumped on top of the bed – taking a few candy bars with her- and started fumbling with the sheets. Nidorino growled once and then began his epic journey to climb onto the other bed –a very daunting quest, seeing as he was quadruped animal and he couldn't climb worth a damn. That would keep him busy for the rest of the evening.

Now that both of the Pokemon were busy with their individual plans, he had a chance to get busy himself. He tore the cabinet down, placing it with its front on the ground and making sure that the backside was completely horizontal. After that he laid down his weapons and started his routinely maintaining cycle. If only he had better things to do…

~0~

Chocolate was good. Chocolate was very good. This was the first time in her life that she could have chocolate and other kinds of candy for dinner- even though it wasn't warm. Her parents had never permitted her to eat sweets in the evening –safe for the incidental dessert after dinner. Some part of her felt satisfied with the current events; she had a good friend, an honest trainer and…well, up to a few weeks together with the human.

The rest of her felt pretty depressed. It was one of the reasons why she had chosen chocolate; it prevented her from feeling too depressed. Her parents were gone and she had no idea where they were or even where to find them. Her best friend was a Nidorino and her human was an emotionless murderous soldier with more issues then she had dance moves.

That wasn't completely honest –she had a lot of moves.

The fact that she wasn't eating healthy or warm at the moment felt wrong…it felt like a testimony to the anarchy of the situation. No rules…no laws and no consequences. Humans had died around her and it should have been enough to cause a trauma. It should have been enough…but for some reason it hadn't. She understood-

"**Help!"**

**-**understood that-

"**Help me!"**

**-**that the humans had been bad. Who was that? Was someone asking for help?

"**Please!"**

Begging for help? Someone was in trouble. It was time to investigate!

Lucy glanced at her trainer from the corner of her eyes. He was busy with his thunder-stick and wasn't paying any attention to her. It was now or never. She closed her eyes and felt her body became enveloped in the faint green mist that signified the usage of her psychic powers. She concentrated on the image she saw when she looked out of the window and ever so slightly increased the pressure on her mind. Within a second she felt her body disassemble and then reassemble itself. Only this time she was outside, ready to venture into the wild.

"**Okay…"** She whispered and looked around the town. "**Where are you?"**

The town seemed quiet enough…nothing was going on. Had she merely imagined the faint cries for help? The window had been closed and she had been on the second floor. Nidorino hadn't seemed to notice it, so why had she?

"**Is anyone there? Help me!"**

There it was again! Who was calling for help there? It sounded like a girl but…could it be a trap? Her trainer had taught her to trust her own instincts and nothing else. Her instincts told her that something was going on…but what?

"**Hello!" **She yelled. "**Where are you?"**

There wasn't a direct response to her call, but she could feel something. A faint trembling in the ground. Loud barks sounded in the distance and actually startled her. Those were certainly real!

She could hear human speech in the background and even though she couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, she could hear that they weren't exactly happy. Combine that with the large emotional charge in the air and you had a real problem.

A plum of fire was visible at the end of the road and it attracted her eye. Humans couldn't breathe fire, could they? So that had to be a Pokemon.

"**Help me!"** The voice yelled again, much clearer this time. It was definitely a female and she was in trouble.

Then a red figure darted out from behind a wall, the same place where the torrent of fire came from. It was a Vulpix, a younger one judging by the four tails that fluttered behind her. "**Please help me!"** She cried.

"**What is happening! Who are after you!"** Lucy cried in return, but the answer presented itself soon enough. From the same place where the Vulpix had come from, multiple of the red-white canines that the law-enforcing humans used.

The same humans that her trainer had so much conflicts with. Why were they after this female.

The dogs were running at top speed to chase the vixen and it was obvious that they weren't in the best of moods.

"**You have to help me; they will hurt me!"** the poor thing said. She was obviously terrified and in need of protection.

In spite of the weight of the situation, Lucy smiled. Here was a chance to use her powers; to demonstrate what she could do and what the potential of her mind was. These dogs were after the poor fox and no matter what had transpired, there were multiple enemies attacking a single one. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, then it was group-bullying.

She did a pirouette and at the second spiral, she stopped and made a gesture with her hands. She threw a reflective barrier up in the streets and allowed a faint smug to play over her features when she saw the fire-dogs smash into it face-first. That should teach them for stalking a poor little Vulpix like that!

The red fox stopped a meter behind her and turned to face the assailants with her.

The canines stopped running and glared at her, malicious intent clearly visible in their eyes.

One of them opened up wide and a torrent of flames escaped its maw. Lucy knew that her reflective barrier wouldn't hold out against the searing rage of fire and she quickly jumped backwards, joining the Vulpix. Then she put her hand against the fire-type's head and teleported both of them away.

The flamethrower burned through the space where the two girls had been a second ago.

Kirlia and the fox reappeared a meter to the right of the attack, but the moment they did a group of humans charged around the corner.

"Hold it!" They yelled. There were five of them -law enforcers, three females and two males. Two of them were sporting the loud banging weapons that the humans loved to carry. She knew from experience just how deadly those weapons could be when fired. She and the fox were in a tight spot and she knew it.

The dogs were growling and barking at them, but they held their fire back.

"Freeze!" The lead human yelled and they had no choice but to comply. The law enforcers had them in a tight spot and they wouldn't get out- maybe she could reason with them, ask them why they were after the little pokemon.

"Get those Pokemon and see who it belongs to! You two, seize the Vulpix!"

Well that couldn't be good.

"Watch the Growlithes!" Someone else yelled and the dogs started yapping even harder. Before she knew it, two of them broke formation after each other and both of them came charging at her and the fox, smoke trailing after them and their exposed teeth blickering in the moonlight.

This was even worse.

Two of the cops yelled at the two fire-types and ran after them, their guns at the ready. Lucy could see the two Growlithes getting closer and closer and there was no way she could reach the red fox before they did –and she had no misconceptions about what would happen if they reached her. So she could teleport away on her own and leave the vixen to die or she could take her chances and attack the law enforcement people. Which would most likely get her killed as well.

What would her trainer do in this situation? If she followed his way of engaging, she would only need two very large weapons and projectiles to spare.

Yes…there would be no soldier-act alike for her.

The two canines came within striking distance and the humans weren't close enough to catch them. She could actually see their hind legs tense in preparation for their pounce- when suddenly their eyes dilated and they stopped their forwards motion. Their forelegs scraped over the ground and they kicked against the ground to get to a stop as fast as they could.

The humans' expressions were much easier to read. Their faces radiated fear and their minds practically oozed with apprehension. What was going on? Was she so scary that her enemies fled before her very sight? For some reason she couldn't exactly believe that…but it was a positive development as a whole, so she held on to the thought.

"**Yeah that's right**!" She yelled and shook her fist at them. Fear me!

Why were they pointing their guns at a place behind her? Behind and four feet above her?

"Drop your weapons! Do it!" The sudden sound of another voice –this one placed directly behind her- caught her completely off guard and she involuntarily yelped with surprise.

The rough, hard voice sounded familiar to her. There was only one person whose voice could be so devoid of emotions and at the same time charged with authority and lethal precision.

She slowly turned around and saw her trainer standing behind her, his large thunder-stick aimed directly at the law enforcement people.

"Drop your gun sir!" They yelled in return. The two parties were aiming their weapons at each other and the Pokemon were caught in the middle, but she didn't feel any fear. Her trainer was the very best –no one ever was as good as he was.

"I'll count to seven sir! If I reach seven and you have not dropped your gun, I will open fire!" One of the officers yelled.

"I count down from three to zero. I hit zero, you all die."

Damn. He wasn't fooling around. Lucy slowly started making her way towards the Vulpix. If things got out of hand, her human could handle himself. She couldn't and she knew the vixen couldn't either.

"Three."

The Growlithe either sensed the futility of their situation or heard the trainer make his threat; they turned around and ran back towards the law enforcers, with their tails between their legs. The blue-clad humans were so nervous by the situation that one of them fell down by the sudden movement of the Pokemon and two others took a few steps to the side.

The snow-white armoured human didn't budge and inch. "Two."

The other human clearly forgot about his threat and watched with silent horror at the soldier before him.

"Zero." He declared and pressed a button –or was a lever?- at his weapon. The humans instantly threw their weapons on the ground and some of them even dropped themselves down.

"Don't shoot!" They yelled and put their hands in the air. "We can resolve this without violence. Are you the owner of this Vulpix?

"No."

The humans whispered amongst themselves and Lucy could sense their unease and confusion. "Do you own this other…Pokemon?"

"Yes."

"Sir your Pokemon interfered with a direct operation intend on catching a criminal Pokemon. The circumstances aren't in your favor!"

Well…when they brought it like they weren't.

"Her actions are irrelevant. Using weaponry to combat wild animals signifies that you are uncut for police work. Get out. Now."

The law enforcing people didn't need to hear that a second time. They all recollected themselves and retreated, until only one woman was left."

"Interfering with police activities is a serious crime –couple that with threatening said officers with a large firearm and harboring a criminal is enough to get you in jail. Do you understand this?"

'_**Math!' **_Lucy contacted the human with her mind. '_**You have to protect this pokemon- these people will hurt her when they find her! You can't let them get her!'**_

"There is no reason for me to do that," He responded. Any other situation would have caused her to laugh her horns off, but right now it didn't matter to her that her trainer looked like he was talking to himself. There was only one way this Vulpix would get away with her life –no matter what so-called crime she committed- and Math was the only one who could do that.

'_**Math please!'**_ She pleaded, hoping that her calling his name would be enough to carve away all the stone around his heart. '_**You can't let them hurt her; you have to stop them!'**_

"We don't want trouble here sir. Hand over this Pokemon and we'll see if we can't make a deal with you. Resist us and the Cerulean city police department will be all over you –don't think you can beat us."

'_**Do the right thing! Make up for the people you killed!'**_

He looked down at her and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "I don't have to."

"The police was stalking a young Vulpix without any reason and they were intent on using lethal force. Then they threatened and unleashed Growlithes on a strange and OWNED Pokemon when they couldn't get their jobs done well. Then you proceeded to threaten an elite and undercover soldier when you could be busy defending this city. You better forget about this incident and we will do that too."

A new woman had arrived at the scene –one which Lucy had seen a few times before. It was the female soldier that spoke like her trainer did. Why had she come to chase the police away?

The officer swallowed and her features hardened. "No can do ma'am. You are a very respected and appreciated addition to our team but we can't let you control this situation. This man threatened to kill us and his pokemon assaulted ours without merit. We can't let him walk- we won't let the Vulpix walk.

"It is a wild Pokemon! You can't expect it to realize what it did would cause such grieve!"

"And that is exactly where the problem lies. Our hands are tied –had this Pokemon been caught, its status as a trainer's pokemon would have been enough to lessen the punishment our client chose. But seeing as it isn't… we have no choice."

The female soldier looked at Lucy's trainer and tried to make eye-contact. The armoured human's head shifted ever so slightly to her general direction before his hand suddenly left his weapon. Before the Law enforcement lady could even sneeze, he had pulled out a Poké ball, threw it at the Vulpix and then reunited his hand with his beloved weapon.

The officer realized what had happened and she scowled. "No!" She yelled and took a step forwards, her hand going to her thigh where she wielded a gun. Then the ball shook. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Everyone held their breath –with the highly probably exception of her trainer- and Lucy realized that the Vulpix had been caught by her trainer and what that meant.

It meant that whatever punishment the once-wild creature would have awaited had faded way. It meant that she was safe with him and protected against the blue-clad humans, seeing as she was now officially a trainer's pokemon.

It meant that Math had listened to her pleas and committed an act of mercy.

The female soldier looked down at the ball and then locked her gaze with the other female's. "It looks like your claim officially holds no more weight. The rest of the situation shall be resolved in the morning; go get some sleep officer."

The woman looked angrily at Lucy's trainer and scowled. "You are nothing but trouble. Don't think you have won this round soldier, mark my words." Then she turned towards the other female and sighed. "Yes ma'am, good night ma'am."

While the angry female left and the good female stayed behind to have a little chat with the only male in the vicinity, Lucy felt a twang of jealousy. Had this female just communicated with HER trainer in a way she couldn't? By using military words and codes and undermining the established system?

Doing something she couldn't properly do? Communicate with her own trainer like that?

While she should be the one to know him the best?

~0~

"_The crashed flood-ship in Voi wasn't the first engagement that one of our Spartans would have with the Flood. There also was an incident in November, when a small scouting group encountered the Delta Halo. Three of our Spartans encountered the flood there in great numbers and were cut off from each other. They managed to get out safe, but…:_

Conversation between Colonel Ackerson and General Lance, 28 December 2552

~0~

**And thus the third member of the party was revealed. In an epic series of events… who am I kidding? Everyone read it!**

**It is once again very late- by the time I upload this, it will be 2'o clock in the night. I seem to be making a habit getting up late- I don't think my family appreciates me sitting alone in the dark, with a laptop on my lap. Top.**

**I hope I managed to keep you guys with me! A new chapter with around 11 000 words isn't easy to read through I know this. I just hope that my combination of quality and quantity is in balance and that am not writing too much –or too less- in one chapter.**

**This all being said, I have included clues as to the identity of the fourth member of the team. Not neccesarily in this chapter, but they are still there. Let's see who can find it and win our newest Freshly-Baked-Cyber-C00kie contest.**

**That was it. Nightie night folks!  
…**

**Tug…tug…tug…tug…**

**Tuggity tug tug…tug tug…**


	15. Definitely women

**First off: Advertising time. So you guys probably know Halo right? And if you know Halo, you know Roosterteeth. If not- shame on you.**

**Roosterteeth's newest project is called RWBY. It is an animated anime'ish series and well…it is very awesome. Sooooooo…. I have been neglecting my duties as a writer and temporarily ignored my first real fanfiction…this one...and started work on a RWBY fanfiction. But don't worry! As of now I will simply have to work harder and update two stories at once. **

**You are probably wondering why this is called Advertising time and not Apologies time? Because of the following: I have made another fanfiction –based on Roosterteeth's new series RWBY. Please read it. And stuff.**

**And now: Review time!**

**Zombieslayers: ****Thanks for pointing that little mistake. I'm sorry to say that PM'ing will be too complicated and…tedious…when it comes to replying. I will have to make do with my pre-story babbling. Besides; isn't it amusing to read replies to other reviews and figuring out what has been said?**

**Cthulujr ****and ****Solar Jarl The Cannon King 44K: ****Thank you for the compliments.**

**The constitutionalist: ****I can follow your line of reasoning…or can I? Anyway thanks for the review; I always enjoy the moments when I realize you posted another review. **

**Yutyrannus: ****Damn, that's a lot of praise! It means a lot to me to hear that.**

**I think it is time for a disclaimer:**

**Even though this website is called FAN FICTION dot net, I shall say that I do not own Pokemon or Halo and neither do I own any of the canon established characters or creatures.**

**I do won any original plots and characters that I made up myself and therefor I own. Dot.**

~0~

"Speech" human speech

"**Speech" **Pokemon speech

"_Speech" _Pokemon speech to humans.

"SPEECH" underused Pokedex speech.

'_**Speech'**_ telepathic speech

~0~

Lucy AKA Kirlia, lvl 23- significant moves: teleport, confusion, growl and reflect.

Nidorino, lvl 18- significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick

Vulpix, lvl 20- significant moves: _unknown_

~0~

"_Today is December 25th, 2552. The war with the covenant is as good as over. We have received permission to send a battlegroup to the last known location of the Platernus which –as far as we know- was forced to make an emergency slipspace jump after the Battle of Aegis III, which places its disappearance sometime after the Fall of Reach but before the Battle of Earth."_

"_That leaves us with a timespan of two months; September through November."_

"_Correct."_

Conversation between Captain Wren and Lieutenant Markson, 25 December 2552

~0~

"I don't want to hear it."

'_**Please! I already said I was sorry!´**_

"Sorry doesn't make things un-happen."

'_**What was I supposed to do!'**_

"Follow my orders, stay clear of trouble?"

'_**She asked for my help!'**_

"Did she? I heard nothing. Nidorino heard nothing."

'_**He was sleeping on his bed and you…'**_

"Yes?"

'_**You wouldn't have understood it. Humans can't understand Pokemon, remember?'**_

"You could have warned me. Instead you engaged the local police force, caused a major ruckus when we were supposed to keep our heads down and nearly caused a firefight in the streets."

"_Vulpix vul!" _The red fox cried. After he had called the Pokemon out of its ball, it had kept to itself. But after his last statement it suddenly decided to make noise.

He pointed with one finger at the creature and without turning to look at it, said: "Don't even get me started on you."

The Pokemon did the smartest thing and shut up then.

The Spartan was walking down the street with Lucy and the Vulpix in tow and the female soldier in-between them. After having just narrowly avoided an incident with armed police forces, the simple fact that he had been forced to take yet _another_ Pokemon under his wing annoyed him terribly. He hadn't planned on expanding his 'team' in any way and he had trouble enough with the two exotic animals with him.

"Don't be so hard on her, if what she said is true-"The woman started, but he wouldn't have any of it.

"-Then she still interfered with ongoing operations of local law-enforcement. "

'_**I wasn't the one who threatened them with death…' **_The Kirlia softly added.

"No. You were the one who forced me to do so."

'_**I never did that! You just appeared out of nowhere! I didn't even know that you were there!'**_

Irrelevant. "You ignored my orders and ran off on your own. You could have gotten yourself and others killed."

"The situation worked out in the end!" The soldier said and lifted her hands, apparently trying to calm the situation before anything happened. "They will drop the subject of you threatening them and harbouring a wanted Pokemon and we will forget about our own wrongs, shall we?"

"Quiet." He said and continued marching towards the Pokemon Center. He had ordered Nidorino to stay behind and watch their stuff while he was out fixing things and he would very much like to move on now. But his companions were sure to complain when he ordered them to keep moving and he was certain that they would eventually fall over when pushed too hard. "You will continue to your unit and we'll leave this town in the morning."

"You are not my superior officer," The female said and placed her hands on her hips.

The Pokemon Center was only a minute away and he could already see the red roof sticking out between to other buildings.

"Neither are you mine. We will continue on to Saffron City and contact my people. You will rejoin your unit and take the fight to team Rocket."

"Excuse me?" She said and scowled. "Since when are you calling the shots?"

Since always? He had a bad feeling about this situation. "As of now."

'_**Are you going to send the nice lady away too?'**_Lucy said, much to his annoyance.

"You be quiet now. I have to sort this out."

He gestured for the Poison-type who was waiting for them at the pokemon center to move inside and then quickly followed him.

"You two. Inside now." He said and watched as the two Pokemon hurried to comply. "I can't order you to leave or to stay…but you would be wise to listen to me and go away ASAP." He told the soldier. He didn't want to threaten her or hurt her, but he couldn't risk letting smarter or more pronounced people know that he was on this planet. Discretion and secrecy had always been his greatest ally.

The woman straightened and clasped her hands behind her back "My unit is gone. I am the only one left and as of a week ago, I have no superiors. No one is going to dictate my movements and I know that you will most likely run into more trouble, am I right?"

Probably.

"So…" She continued and relaxed a bit. "I think that I will accompany you. At least until you have reached Saffron City- we haven't heard a thing from the other cities and I fear the worst for them."

Why did seriously everyone want to accompany him? Didn't they understand that he would much rather be alone?

But he had no choice. If he wanted to reach the next few cities he would need someone to bail him out of situations his Pokemon would get him in. He simply couldn't afford to hurt civilians and some situations really warranted that.

"Very well." He said. "But you will report to ME and no 'one else. Understood?"

Her features hardened for a few seconds before they relaxed again. "Crystal."

Great. In one catastrophic night his burden had increased dramatically. First of all: Determine whether the fox would be a threat to him or not. Even though he now technically owned it and it would be forced to report to him, he wasn't too sure about its capacities.

"Meet me tomorrow morning at the local gym," The female started. He simply stared at her without responding and eventually she got the message. "Sir." She grumpily added and saluted him- although he had the feeling that she was being sarcastic about that.

"Noted." He said and entered the Pokemon Center, hoping that he could forget about the strange soldier and her ways of acting. First of all he would have to establish the ground rules to the fox…then he would have to teach it the concept of ground rules. After that he would have to find out whether the creature could show signs of major intelligence –like Lucy- or that it was simply driven by basic needs – like Nidorino.

"Move it." He said and looked down at the fox. It simply sat down and stared at him with its amber eyes.

So much for starting with a base set of understood orders. He would have to start at the beginning; which meant finding out whether it was a boy or a girl and then letting Lucy have a little talk with it.

He scooped the fox from the ground and carried to their room. The other two Pokemon were already there and waiting for him, Nidorino with groggy eyes and Lucy with her arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. But this time he knew why she was sulking and he didn't care. She had done something very wrong and now she would have to face the consequences.

The Spartan placed the fox in the bed and crouched down next to it. At first sight it would indeed appear to be a fox; only this one was red instead of orange and had four tails instead of one.

Which was kind of weird. What kind of evolutionary factor would cause creatures to grow multiple tails? What was the use in that?

He lifted the mammal in the air and observed its underside. It would appear that the red fur covering it was more cream-coloured on its stomach. Its paws had darker fur and there were multiple locks of fur hanging down its head. All in all the Pokemon had a pretty feminine look...could it be a girl?

He sighed and carefully searched with its fingers for any sign of….malehood. The fox giggled when his cold, armoured fingers accidently tickled its belly and he was positive that he couldn't bind any indicator of XY-chromosomes. If Pokemon had chromosomes like other creatures, that is.

So it would appear to be female?

'_**Couldn't you just politely ask her?' **_Lucy told him.

"Communications barrier." He replied and stood up. He had seen enough to determine that this Pokemon was in fact…a fox. But just one with four tails. What would he do with a fox on his team? Lucy was invaluable because of her psychic power and communication potentials. Nidorino had very sensitive ears and could detect danger very soon –which he could then relay to Lucy, who would tell him in turn.

The two worked as a very efficient tag-team and the Vulpix just wouldn't fit in anywhere. What made her special anyway?

And why had the police been after her?

"Find out why she was in trouble." He ordered Lucy.

She sighed and got up. '_**Fine. But only if you promise not to ditch her.'**_

Why would he do that? He had caught the damn thing; which meant he was officially its owner. He had chosen to keep the creature at his side the moment he used his Poké ball on it and he would not leave it behind just because it complicated the mission. No man left behind.

Until the UNSC could pick him up.

~0~

Yes she had messed up. Yes she knew she had messed up. Yes she felt sorry for leaving him behind like that. But what she didn't feel sorry about, was what she had done and what she had meant to do. She had saved a Pokemon from being assaulted by violent Growlithes and by doing so; her human had gotten another team-member.

"**Hello there…"** Lucy started. The vixen was still shocked by the recent events and she wasn't too sure whether she would talk to her or not, but she could always try. "**Where are you from?"**

"…**Celadon city…"** She responded. Gotcha.

"**How did you come here?"** She tried next. She got the little Pokemon to come out clean and her trainer would perhaps trust her again. She had messed up with abandoning him and getting into trouble like that, she knew it. But she had to listen to her heart –he wouldn't understand that, but he could still appreciate the intention lying underneath right?

"**I don't want to talk about it."**

Damnit. That was still okay, but she needed to verify whether her trainer could trust her like she did. "**Why were those humans after you?"**

It took the Vulpix a few seconds to respond, but when she did her answer was surprisingly clear. "**I don't want to say…but I am innocent. I didn't do what they thought I did!"**

Now she was getting somewhere. The fire-type was innocent? Then what had they accused her off?

"**If you are innocent…then why won't you tell me?" **Lucy replied, hoping that she could pull another answer out of the girl.

"**I can't tell you…you wouldn't … I mean you couldn't…you don't understand!"** The poor creature was getting more and more distressed and Lucy felt her heart ache. This Pokemon was so fluffy and cute and she couldn't bear hurting her –even if she did so accidently.

"**I trust you. But that doesn't mean our trainer will…"** She started. She wasn't too sure about what she would say next; would she try to explain how Math's mind worked or would she simply let Vulpix find out on her own?

"We've wasted enough time with useless actions. Grab some rest; we'll move at six."

Well, that spoke for itself. The red fox was looking at the human with a curious expression on her face and Lucy could see that she was about to speak her mind. A quick shake of her head made sure the girl would keep her head down until her trainer had cooled off a bit. If he even did such things –for all she knew he was so unused to emotions that he had actually set his mind to be angry even though he did not understand what it meant.

She smartly saluted –a gesture which she had seen among both her trainer and the female soldier- and hoped that he would be kind enough to simply let the issue rest. Why hadn't Nidorino heard the Vulpix cry for help too? With his super-sensitive ears he could have heard her running at half a mile distance…she thought.

Maybe he had heard her but decided not to act? Nidoran wouldn't have done so…but now? She wasn't too sure. She had done many things which she could have never done when she was still a Ralts. So perhaps he too had changed? For the worse?

"**Nidorino…" **She whispered. His ear twitched and she knew he could hear her. "**Did you hear Vulpix cry out for help?"**

The Pokemon lifted his head and opened his eyes. He was looking very calm and relaxed. "**I was wondering about that…"** He started and seemed thoughtful. "**Why could you hear her? And not me?"**

Yes. That was exactly what the issue was. She had no idea and he had no idea. The vixen wouldn't tell her secrets and her human wouldn't trust her when she raised the problem herself. So what was she supposed to do?

"**You heard her didn't you?"** He continued. "**You were the only to hear her and until recently I thought that you were either going nuts or lying to us. But then you found her and I realized that there was something that gave her away."**

What was he trying to say?

She looked over her shoulder to see if the fox was listening to them. She appeared to be sleeping, but she couldn't know for sure. "**Let's go to sleep for now…tomorrow I will talk to our trainer and try to get him less angry."**

As far as that was possible at least.

~0~

The alarm clock he had set for six'o clock rang and he reached for it instantly. His hand brushed through the air where he could have sworn that he had placed it. His hand connected with the tabletop that was still standing there and he nearly smashed through the wooden deck. Strange.

He aimed for the classic-designed clock again and this time he located it. He tried to find a button with which he could disable it; there was no need to let the entire town know that he was up and running so early in the morning.

His body had been trained to wake up after seven hours of sleep; seeing as he had first attempted for his team to go to bed around nine and that had been pushed ahead by the skirmish with the police, he had fallen asleep around ten instead of nine. So when the clock hit 05:00 in the morning, he had woken up. Of course he hadn't made usage of the bed; his armour would have been too heavy for the wooden structure to support and he'd rather not explain a completely messed up room to the people of the Pokemon Center.

But he had promised his Pokemon that they would get to sleep to six and not five, so he waited an hour for them to wake. He had sat down in Seiza position and practiced his breathing. The newest developments had been very taxing on both his patience and his discipline and he could feel his mind slip occasionally. It wouldn't make do to lose control and he was very limited with his options in self-control now. One of the most effective practices he could do was to concentrate on the most inner workings of his mind, shut out every single signal from the outside and focus on breathing.

In through the nose…out through the mouth. It was all part of the Zen no-thought training that every Spartan had been put through. To be able to react and response with lightning quick reflexes required constant training.

He had often wondered whether it was natural for a soldier as disciplined as he was to suffer from aggression fits. Because during these…fits…of his mind, his desire to fight was significantly increased. Certain things lost their interest to him –like tactics and long-term strategies- and others had a rather increased significance. It had only occurred on three separate occasions though; all three of them had occurred during missions in which he had gotten separated from the UNSC for more than a week. He wasn't the type to feel homesick during long-term operations and there had been plenty of fighting.

Stress never got to him, it had never done so before and it wouldn't ever in the future. So what had caused these isolated cases of irrational thinking and acting? He felt it slowly coming up again during this op- but so far he had been able to suppress it. These breathing and other Zen exercises often helped him during such times. He could only hope that this time, it would be no different.

So when the alarm went off he was violently shocked out of his trancelike concentration. During his desperate search for a clear off-button the stupid thing continued to ring. So in the end he smashed it from behind –hoping that he could disrupt its inner workings and stop the thing from being so noisy.

He hadn't expected the clock to completely explode when he did. Gears and springs went everywhere and he pelted his Pokemon with pieces of shrapnel.

The Vulpix was hit with a spring against her head and she nearly hit the ceiling with a very audible yelp. Nidorino declared war against the wall where one of the larger pieces had landed and Lucy merely tugged at her blanket, turned around and went back so sleep.

Was this thing so weak or had he overestimated his strength?

He slowly raised his head to see if he had caused any permanent damage. The two afflicted Pokemon seemed to be completely shell-shocked, but otherwise unharmed.

Lucy was still sleeping though. He had told her to wake up at six PM and she was still in her bed. He would have to wake her up, but he had no intention of giving the psychic too much attention. One of his trainers had once –back when he was still a kid- thrown him with bed, sheets and all out of the window when he hadn't wanted to wake up.

How old had he been? Five? Six?

He considered using the same tactic in his Pokemon and quickly discarded it. No violence, no abuse and no trust-ruining ideas.

Did he have something else which could make a loud bang? Apart from four frag grenades and two rifles? It would take too long to do something fancy to wake her up and he had no desire to do so. So in the end he simply walked up to her and tore her blanket off. Then he grabbed by her legs and lifted her in the air.

She gave a loud, high-pitched squeal as he yanked her off the bed.

'_**Lemmego lemmego lemmego lemmgo!' **_ She screamed in his mind, causing a slight headache in his already throbbing head.

"Wake up lady…" He said and carried the trashing form to the window. "Or I will throw you in a river."

She grew still after that, but her dangling body was still contacting his mind. '_**If you do that…'**_ she slowly and clearly said '_**You WILL regret it.'**_

Was she threatening him? A Spartan? She had nothing on him. Nothing.

Hadn't she? He'd bite. "Or what?"

She remained silent for a moment. '_**I still have to think about it, but I will get back at you and you will not enjoy it.'**_

He sighed. Like she could do anything to him that he wouldn't endure without trouble. Still, he let her go. He had simply wanted her to wake up and she had, so he would move on.

Having already grabbed all of his gear and weapons, he was ready to move. But it appeared that his Pokemon were still drunk with sleep and couldn't even stay upright for more than a few seconds. He would have to do something about that if they were to live up to their potential.

"Move out." He said and pointed at Nidorino. "Take point."

The poison-type softly nodded, still not completely awake. The Spartan knew about the risks of having a sleep-walking person take point in a land where danger was literary around every corner, but he was confident enough in his own capabilities that he didn't need to worry.

~0~

The world was so strange. First of all there had been that terrible chase, where those vicious dogs had been hunting her for more than an hour before she had finally managed to get that deep in the city. After that, her stalkers had located her once again and she had been forced to flee…again.

She had been so desperate…so terrified of those fangs and claws…but she had been so tired that she had no air left to scream for mercy or help. There had only been running –running as far and hard as she could. But the exhaustion had kept up with her for a long time and the humans with their Pokemon had caught up with her.

There would have been no escape…there should have been no escape…weren't it for the psychic Pokemon that had appeared. She looked like a smaller version of a human, but her scent and closer appearance said otherwise. Looking like a gracious ballerina, with eyes that practically radiated mercy and compassion. And she had known; she had known about her trouble and came there to rescue her.

The unknown Pokemon had come just in time to protect her from the violent canines and then –even after the humans had appeared with their deadly projectile weapons-she had continued to help her, going so far as to sacrifice her own safety to teleport her away. But the humans were impossible to defeat; their weapons bit with uncanny accuracy and their bite was so painful…so dangerous.

And then, just as she thought that both she and her rescuer were doomed, _he _had appeared. With the average shape and build of a human she thought that the humans had surrounded them. But then he started ordering the others to drop their weapons and suddenly, the two parties had been threatening each other with violence and death. She was certain that she was going to die there, but the psychic hadn't seemed to worry.

On the contrary; she had seemed relieved. Another human had appeared and after that, things happened so fast that she couldn't recall what had been said and done. The only thing that she did know, was that she had been captured by the armoured human.

After a very short night, she had woken up when she heard a very loud and irritating noise. But the human was already on it and had destroyed the device that caused the ruckus.

Her poor head was still so tired that she couldn't process the things around her very well. She knew that she was walking next to the psychic, who had identified herself as Lucy and was still talking to her. She was trying to explain the events that had befallen her after she had joined up with the tall human, but she wasn't making a lot of sense.

She spoke of demons…and humans on metal Pokemon that tried to kill her human and that he had killed them in return. Her tale was tailored with violence and drama, but in her head it also had a romantic aspect to it.

Lucy was the princes in peril and her human –their human as of now- had appeared like a prince in white armour. Quite literary.

"**Tell me again…"** She carefully asked. The psychic Pokemon had informed her of the mood their trainer was currently in and it seemed best to simply keep their heads down and be very quiet. "**What is with the Nidorino?"**

The other Pokemon in their team, the poisonous one, hadn't talked to them for a while and was walking ahead of them in a pace which was getting harder and harder to match. "**Why won't he talk to us?"**

"**Oh he is the point-man."** Lucy explained like it made sense to her.

"**What is a…point man?"** She carefully asked, not wanting to appear dumb. The Pokemon seemed to notice her predicament though, but she was very nice about it/

"**Don't worry about that: our human is a very strange one. He uses weird terms and codes to prevent other humans from understanding him. He is a soldier."**

How had this pokemon- this Kirlia- known how she felt? Well…she was a psychic creature. Perhaps she could read her mind?

"**What is a soldier?"** She asked, feeling less nervous about trying to get information.

"**A soldier is a human specifically chosen and trained to protect the innocent against monsters!"** Lucy proudly said. But she could detect a hint of doubt in her voice. What was she doubtful about?

"**Then why is he angry with you for saving me?"** Vulpix then asked, but deep inside she already knew the answer. She had sworn the Kirlia that she was innocent too and she had believed her, but the human probably didn't.

"**I left him without a word and caused problems with the local human population…"** She said with a sigh. "**And I kind of forced him to capture you…no offense to you of course, it was the only way to protect you. Otherwise the humans would have been able to punish you as they saw fit."**

Vulpix gulped and noticed that the human had stopped at the entrance of a large building. Why had he stopped there?

"This is the rendezvous point," He said, "we'll wait here for our…new ally." He wasn't being honest about it; if he thought of the person that they were waiting for as an ally then why didn't he say it like he was happy about it? Allies were a positive thing right?

Lucy frowned and the human turned to look at her. Had he noticed her change of attitude or something like that?

"Explain yourself." He suddenly said. What?

The Kirlia sighed and the human remained quiet for a few moments. Then…

"She is a soldier too. She'll be here in time."

Lucy's stamped on the ground with one of her thin legs and groaned in frustration. Ooh! That was what she was doing! She was contacting her trainer with her mind, speaking to him via telepathy! That also explained why he was seemingly talking to himself while looking at her –he was replying to her out loud.

"Hey you there! In or out!" Someone from inside of the building suddenly yelled. It sounded like a female, but she wasn't too sure.

'_**That woman has been studying us for a few minutes now…'**_ Lucy told her with her mind. '_**I wonder what it is that she wants.'**_

"**She won't try to hurt us, right?"** She asked nervously. She had had her share of violent and mean creatures for a long time and she didn't want anyone to touch her without her permission ever again.

"**Sweetie…"** Lucy said and gently placed on of her small hands on her neck. Vulpix initially shivered under the new touch, but she quickly remembered that she psychic was one of the good guys and that she had been very nice to her. She was probably trying to comfort her?

She stopped herself from ducking away from the touch and allowed the Kirlia to pet her. It felt good –it had been a while since anyone had caressed her like that.

"**I won't allow anyone to hurt you. Not ever.**" She said and she knew that she meant it. But how could she protect her from the monsters in the world? She wasn't able to stop humans, so how?

Once again the psychic demonstrated her gift. She smiled and said: "**Maybe I won't be able to protect you from humans and their weapons, but I sure as hell am going to try. Besides…"** She pointed at the armoured trainer –who had opened the door and entered the building with his weapon in his hands. The Nidorino was already following him without a single doubt, before he turned to look at them and stopped the door from closing.

"**We have two bulky males in our team. Our human will never ever let anything in this world hurt us."**

She wanted to follow Lucy and the other two inside of that building, she really did, but the place smelled of water and human and she didn't trust it. Her fear was larger than her rationality was and she didn't want to get hurt again.

"**How can you be so sure!"** She whispered, a single tear ran down her eye She tried to fight her feelings; force them back and prevent her from crying, but she was unable too. Soon she would burst into tears and she would embarrass herself in front of her new friend.

"**Because…"** Lucy said and this time she sounded one hundred percent sure of herself. "**He believes that the sole reason for his life is to protect the innocent, whatever the cost. Trust me –and trust him."**

"**Do you?"** She replied. She believed the psychic pokemon on her words, but she needed to verify it. She needed to be sure. "**Do you trust him with your life?"**

Lucy looked at the open door, where Nidorino was still waiting for them. "**I do."**

Well then…if the psychic-type did…then she would have to do as well. "**Okay…**"

Kirlia nodded approvingly at her and the two of them joined Nidorino to enter the building.

~0~

Oh yes he had known about that girl. She had been observing them through the glass door for some time while he had been waiting for the female soldier to show up. Lucy had told him –basically- that it was still way too early for anyone to be up, ever and that she was simply still sleeping.

At first he had disagreed, knowing that soldiers had to wake up way earlier than at six. But he had reconsidered; everything in this world was different. So maybe the spirit and heart of soldiers were too?

And then the spying girl had collected enough courage to call him out. She had wanted him to either enter the building or leave it; something he could understand. A seven-foot tall killing machine wasn't exactly an inspiring sight for teenage girls like her. But she had had the guts to call him out –something even ODST's didn't do. So she was either very gutsy…or very stupid.

And perhaps a bit of both.

So he had entered the building; waiting on a doorstep wasn't exactly the least prominent way of being obvious and he was curious at the interior of this gym. Back with Brock, the gym had been designed with Rock Pokemon in mind. So what would this gym be? The concept of battling with Pokemon was a somewhat intriguing concept and he was nothing if not competitive. If he had some spare time and his Pokemon were in need of training…why shouldn't he visit the local gym and see what he could do there?

He marched inside and noticed a small blue room with a door at the back. The room had two tiny ponds in to the sides and couldn't be more than seven by seven feet large.

The girl was standing in the door opening directly across of him, her posture didn't seem too confident but what did he know? For all he knew she was a religious fanatic looking at him like he was a piece of insulting steak and he wouldn't see it in her face.

He could hear Nidorino sniffing at the water and Lucy sticking her foot inside of it. Vulpix was simply staying behind and tried not to look directly at him.

"Y-you came in!" The girl stammered and entered the room. "M-Misty has been waiting for a c-challenger with the g-guts to take her on f-for a while now."

Who had been doing what now?

He remained silent and looked at the girl. He could see her trembling slightly and it was amusing him. The sight of young people fearing him when he wasn't even covered by blood, guts and scorch marks yet was…interesting.

So he was about to challenge a gym-leader? Again? Since when?

Well…since he had entered the gym, he supposed. Still, the soldier wasn't there yet and he might as well hone his abilities and enhance his strategic mind when it came to this world. Besides; his pokemon needed exercise and he wanted to focus his mind on something else than spare time or traveling. He wanted to fight.

"I…I…" She stuttered and tried to say something else, but nothing came out of her mouth. A repressed memory raised its very ugly head in the back of his mind and he suddenly felt the urge to reassure this girl and then run away. He would compromise.

He took a step forwards and closed the distance between them. The door backed up against the door and her eyes enlarged with fear. She couldn't be much older than seventeen.

"Relax," He said, "you did well."

The girl nodded and swallowed. "I shall t-tell Misty that t-there is a c-challenger at the ready."

"Do that."

And the girl nodded politely at him and quickly left the room. There hadn't been much reassuring meaning in his words, but for some reason people liked it when others told them that they were being good and it had worked. Now he was alone with his Pokemon and he could properly prepare.

He pulled out the Pokedex that he hadn't used for some time and aimed it at each of his Pokemon, before pushing the button.

"NIDORINO, THE HORNED POKEMON. NIDORINO IS VERY POWERFUL AND CHARGES ITS FOES RECKLESSLY WITH ITS POISENOIS HORN, BEFORE SKEWERING THEM WITH IT. IT IS PROTECTED BY HEAVY PLATES AND SPIKES."

That was promising, but very useless. He had already concluded that some time ago.

"VULPIX, THE FOX POKEMON. WHEN IT GROWS OLDER ITS WHITE TAIL SPLITS INTO SEPARATE TAILS. IT HAS AN INTERNAL FIRE IN ITS BODY AND CAN SCORCH ITS ATTACKERS WITH FLAMES."

Wait what? A pokemon with flames inside of its body? Was that philosophical or something? It couldn't be; the Pokedex had stated that Vulpix could roast its opponents with flames. So it was a…a fire-type? Very promising. Fire was a powerful weapon, both mentally and physically. Burn wounds were very gruesome and painful and the prospect of dying in flames was a very frightening prospect. He could scare attacking hostiles off before they would even attack him. But what were its moves? What could it do?

He pressed the button again and a list of moves appeared. Ember…quick attack…confuse ray and…will-O-Wisp? What was that supposed to be? Oh well, moving on.

"KIRLIA, THE FEELING POKEMON. IT HAS STRONG PSYCHIC POWERS AND CAN CREATE MIRAGES USING THE HORNS ON ITS HEAD. A KIRLIA UNDERSTANDS ITS TRAINER BETTER THAN ANY OTHER CREATURE. IT GROWS BEAUTIFUL WHEN ITS TRAINER HAS HAPPY OR GLAD AND LIKES TO DANCE WHEN IT IS HAPPY ITSELF."

Wait what? Lucy could understand him better than anyone else could? If that was true…then why hadn't she abandoned him ages ago? A Spartan wasn't exactly the happiest or gentlest companion, which brought him to the next problem. A Kirlia grew beautiful when its trainer was happy…but she was the prettiest Pokemon he had seen thus far. So he was either being happy subconsciously…or other Kirlia were prettier than she was.

And it dances when it is happy? So that was why she was doing those weird moves all the time. And that was also why she had been so upset when he had told her to 'stop showing off.' It hadn't been the nicest remark he had ever made.

But she could creature mirages…images with her horns? Those little hairpin-thingies? She could actually creature illusions and ghost targets at will? That was something he could use to his advantage.

The door opened and the girl appeared again. "Misty will s-see you now."

Would she? That was very kind of her. It seemed that this 'Misty' had a very large attitude problem. Maybe he could correct it for her after he had utterly crushed her in the fight.

He nodded at the girl and walked through the door. The first thing he noticed was that this gym had to be designed with water-pokemon in mind. It was essentially a large swimming pool, with some tiles and lanes of stone tiles surrounding it and a bridge in the middle.

This was going to be very interesting.

"So Nancy wasn't exaggerating, you are a very big guy."

The woman that stood at the far end of the gym, standing on top of some sort of small statue, was probably Misty. She had orange hair and was wearing rather revealing lingerie.

"Why the armour though? Expecting trouble are we?"

No, not we. Just him –she was expecting only one thing judging by her appearance. He chose to ignore her remark and stepped forwards. The trio of Pokemon entered the gym as well and Vulpix immediately noticed the water and tried to scuffle backwards.

"Easy." He stated he looked over the interior again, this time letting his trained eye and mind work together to develop a series of tactical approaches and strategies for each one of his Pokemon

Vulpix slowly walked forwards until she was standing next to Lucy. The Kirlia nodded at her and she nodded back. Then the red Pokemon continued moving until she was standing right next to his right leg. Her tails curled around his ankle and she braced herself against it.

The vixen would be at a severe disadvantage, so he wouldn't let her fight this battle one on one –which was bound to be the rule.

"Awww!" Misty said with a smile. "Look at that cute fire-type trying to be of use in here! Unfortunately it won't be able to a thing except for getting in the way of my water-pokemon soaking its trainer."

Damn. If that wasn't an insultingly aimed challenge then he would eat his helmet. Nidorino growled and took a step forwards and he could feel Lucy getting angry in the back of his mind.

It seemed that Vulpix would have to fight after all. He looked down at the small fox and saw it staring at the floor. He scraped his throat and she looked up at him.

"I don't think so…" He slowly said. Then he looked up at Misty and clasped his arms behind his back, like officers did when they wanted to appear completely in control. "Sick 'em."

Lucy giggled and the poison-type screamed in agreement. The fox looked back at the Pokemon supporting it and gazed at her trainer one more time. Then she seemed to steel herself and she walked forwards, her tails releasing his ankle and now moving freely behind her. He had to admit that the sight of four swirling red tails on a fox was a sight to be admired.

"So we're going to play it that way!" Misty said and took a step forwards herself. "The rules are simple: I use two Pokemon, you use your three. One Pokemon at a time and you win if mine are all defeated."

She pulled a Poké ball out of…where did she keep that?

She threw it and yelled: "Staryu I choose you!"

An orange Pokemon came out of her ball and the Spartan raised his eyebrow at the sight. Misty's first water pokemon looked like a sea-star with its five appendages. It even had an exterior structure at its core that resembled a madreporite.

"Use bubblebeam!" Misty called. The Spartan a faint thrill as the battle started and he ordered Vulpix to dodge it. The vixen complied and the compressed spray of bubbles hit the outer wall, denting it slightly.

Powerful bubbles. The Staryu was lying in the water, out of reach for Vulpix. The only way she could reach it was either by getting in the water –unacceptable- or by using the bridge. It was a vantage point that provided overwatch on both sides. If he made use of the bridge he would have to do so when he finished the hostile.

"Use ember." He decided and watched as the vixen opened her mouth and sprayed her foe with small bolts of flame. It was intriguing to watch a living animal spray fire out of its mouth. It should be physically impossible to do so, but here his Pokemon was, doing it.

"Dive underwater!" Misty ordered her Pokemon and it complied with her order. Vulpix couldn't hit the water pokemon before it submerged, so he would have to change his tactics a little bit. "Not very smart are you?" She taunted him, but he ignored her. Taunts never worked on Spartans and he doubted that they ever would.

The spray of fire hit the water and caused a cloud of steam, temporarily obscuring the battlefield. That resulted in the base for an idea.

"Emerge and use water gun!" The orange-haired girl then ordered. Water gun…that was the move that professor Oak had used with his tortoise… it had been a torrent of high-pressured fire. If Vulpix really had an internal fire powering her body and organs, such an attack would be fatal.

"Use quick attack to get to that bridge!" He ordered the vixen. The Pokemon followed his order and sprang with amazing speed away from her current position. The water-attack blasted the spot where she had been standing a few seconds before and completely hit it. His enhanced reflexes allowed the Spartan to process information much faster than ordinary humans ever could and his mind raced with all kinds of new, but still raw impulses.

When Vulpix hit the bridge, he instantly formulated another strategy and set the first stage in action.

"Face your opponent and hit it with confuse ray." He said and beheld the fire-type's eyes glowing with a dark purple colour. The Staryu –which had just finished turning around to track its target- looked in Vulpix' eyes and its gemlike organ slowly faded from red, to purple and back to red.

Confuse ray…its name spoke for itself really. If his hypothesis was correct, the Staryu was confused. Whatever that meant…

"Damnit Staryu! Use Rapid spin!" Misty cried and the star-shaped Pokemon began to twist rapidly, closely resembling a buzz-axe.

Seriously? Crystal-bearing animals becoming twisters while fighting in a swimming pool, ordered around by a lingerie wearing orange-headed woman? He had just reached number one in the Spartan´s list of weird shit. If such a thing existed.

The water-type broke the pool's surface and flew across the room. It would appear that the confuse ray had worked its magic; the creature was utterly confused and it was buzzing all over the place. Eventually it hit a wall and finally it calmed down. It's brilliantly flaring crystal was only shining at half its intensity now and the Spartan guessed that it represented the Pokémon's stamina.

"Staryu! Concentrate and hit the water again!"

It would seem that it had already shaken off its confusion. It obeyed its trainer and hit the water again. So now it was time for stage two of his tactics.

"Vulpix, use your ember in a circle around the bridge."

The vixen barked once in agreement and she opened her maw to unleash her flames again. Misty laughed and delivered another smartass remark. "Can't you see that it's useless? Using fire to hit a water pokemon underwater? And they say soldiers aren't smart…"

Had she insulted an ODST or even a regular Marine like that, the soldier would have most likely smacked her in the face. Not he though, he had a way better idea for revenge. He would completely and utterly beat her and then he would see if she had any smart remarks. If she did…well, he wasn't going to hurt her.

That didn't go for his Pokemon, however. Nidorino would most likely be more than happy to kick her ass.

Vulpix was concentrated on her task and soon the entire gym was filled with the steam produced by her attack. Now that the Staryu couldn't see her, it couldn't attack her. But its gemlike appearance would still reflect the flare of her flames and his location was soon revealed to her.

"Neutralize it using quick attack." He told her and was rewarded by a loud 'clunk!' as Vulpix smacked her opponent right in its…face…thing.

"No Staryu!" Misty yelled and pulled out her Poké ball. "You did great, return!"

No it hadn't; it had lost in a fight where it had both type-advantage and environment advantage. It would be the same as a scorpion tank getting destroyed by a jackel in a UNSC base.

"I have to admit…you actually beat one of my pokemon using a fire-type, congratulations. But play time is over and I won't be holding back!"

Yes he could see that. He could also see that Vulpix was breathing heavily and that she didn't seem very comfortable right now. If he was smart… he would-

'_**Math, you need to pull Vulpix back now! Misty is about to release her most powerful Pokemon and she is about to fall over!'**_

Yes Lucy, he could see that. He aimed his Poke ball at the vixen and pressed the button; unleashing the thin red laser and pulling the creature inside of it.

"Your turn." He said to Misty and her face contorted in an angry expression. "You're in trouble now mister! Go, Starmie!"

He didn't need a Pokedex to understand that her next Pokemon had to be the evolved version of a Staryu. It had the same general shape as its predecessor, only it had five additional arms on its back –making it double-layered. Its colour was also different; whereas Staryu was Orange, this Pokemon was purple.

But the situation was still very suspicious; Misty was too sure of herself and there had to be reason for it. She couldn't know that he had a Pokedex however, and he was eager to use it.

"STARMIE, THE PSYCHIC/WATER TYPE. IT IS SAID THAT THE SEVEN COLOURS OF ITS GEM CAN PRODUCE ELECTRIC SIGNALS."

Great. So that's why the woman was so sure of herself. This Starmie would make short work of Nidorino and even Lucy couldn't hurt her as much as the star-shaped Pokemon could hurt her. So the gymleader had him in a pinch –he would have to change the rules again.

"Lucy…" He said without looking at her. Would he send her in or…?

'_**Don't worry dear…I've got a hole in my ace.'**_

"Ace in the hole…"

'_**Is that how the saying goes? That's nasty! Nonetheless, I can beat this ugly monster. You just watch.'**_

"You sure?"

Lucy didn't respond, but walked forward with a serious expression on her face. He had never seen her quite as sure of herself as she was now. Sure she was smug at times, but like this? She was serious. And he trusted her to win this fight.

"Let's do this!" Misty called and the Starmie made a strange rasping noise. Then she clapped in her hands and yelled something about a 'water pulse'. The water-type confused and then relaxed, unleashing thin circles of water that blasted at Lucy with intense speed. The Spartan was still faster though, and he quickly ordered Lucy to avoid the attack. She jumped to the side and found her balance by doing some complicated dance move.

"Keep blasting her!" Misty ordered and the Starmie kept unleashing its water pules, the circles of water kept racing at Lucy and effectively kept her suppressed. He had to turn the tight of this fight; she couldn't keep on the defense forever. He ordered her to use her dancing to keep avoiding the pulses and soon every wall of the gym was covered in circle-formed dents. Lucy was dancing, rolling and pirouetting over every tile and rock she could place her thin legs on. It was a good thing that he had trained her stamina or else she would have faltered or fallen.

She better have a good plan…

~0~

The Star-shaped Pokemon was fast, but not accurate enough and its aiming skills were to underdeveloped to hit her. She kept performing delicate and complicated patterns and moves and the Water pulses kept on missing her. It was rather enjoyable to be able to dance freely without being mocked by less intelligent Pokemon. But soon she would slip…or let her guard down just enough for the enemy to hit her and she couldn´t afford to let a single move hit her body.

The Starmie´s attacks were slowly getting easier to see through and soon she could develop a pattern in its water attacks.

When the last pulse nearly caused her to trip, she contacted her trainer and asked him what he thought about the attacks.

"Clumsy and sloppy, but suppressing." He had told her and that confirmed her thoughts. She regained her footing and dove headfirst through the attack, making sure to avoid the high-pressured water rings. Bam! She had just closed in on the Starmie and now it was her turn to attack; just as her trainer had wanted her to.

'The best defense is a good offence…' he had once told her and she never ever forgot his rare moments of wisdom. He didn't talk much and most of the things he said were either orders or statements about their current situation, but sometimes he said things that were only remotely linked to the situation and when he did, she made sure to remember what it was that he said.

"Use confusion!" He ordered her and she concentrated on the enemy. Then she channeled her powers and enveloped the water-pokemon with green light.

"Not going to work!" Misty shouted and then added: "Starmie, use confusion yourself!"

And then she felt a foreign presence probing at her mind; blocking off her powers and trying to seize control.

"**Not likely!" **She growled and her eyes narrowed. It was the Starmie! It was trying to seize control over her body!

Slowly the manifestation of her powers -the green glow over the enemy's body- faded away and made way for a blue aura. So not all psychic's had green as the colour of their power? That was curious.

The blue aura had completely replaced her green one and was still spreading across its body. So it came to a battle of the mind now did it? Very well. Some weird stars-shaped monstrosity would not beat HER in mental fighting, that was for damn sure.

She blocked the invading probe with a probe of her own and concentrated on the gemlike structure in the center of the Starmie. If she could hit that, the Pokemon would most likely be too preoccupied with that to try and hurt her.

She continued to block any invading probes and then used her confusion attack once more. The green power kept floating in the air when it collided with the Starmie's blue one. She struggled and fought and tried with all her might to make the attack work, but the Starmie's concentration was solid. She couldn't get through.

"Use teleport and flank it!" Her trainer ordered. His judgment had jet to disappoint her, so he complied. She blocked all contact with the outside and concentrated on the powers lying in her own mind. Then she touched the little nub of psychic power and once again she felt the familiar sensation of her body disassembling and reassembling itself.

She had appeared behind the Starmie –which was already turning to face her- so she had to hurry it up.

"Use confusion and make the bridge your weapon!" The Spartan called. The bridge? Really? What was he planning? What weapon?

She teleported again and this time she appeared by the bridge, but she could feel exhaustion slowly creeping up on her. This fight couldn't last too long.

'_**How am I supposed to use a bridge as a weapon you idiot?' **_she scolded at her trainer. He kept forgetting that she wasn't as military minded as he was!

"Use confusion to break it apart and then use it…like my own weapon." He clarified. He most likely didn't want Misty to find out what he meant. So that meant no clear orders from his side –great.

But his weapon fired multiple metal projectiles at high speed- was she supposed to…oh! So that was what he meant!

She directed her mental power and tore the bridge apart. The sudden toll on her stamina was very noticeable and she would kick her humans' ass when this wouldn't work out.

When she had created enough pieces of wood –and probably ignored the female's cries of alarm and despair- she dodged a hastily aimed water pulse and used her confusion attack to tear the wooden pieces into even smaller pieces. She then fired every piece of debris at the water-pokemon, hoping that one of them would hit it in the gem.

The multiple wooden projectiles pierced the air and impacted on the Starmie´s tough skin. It didn't seem to even flinch –until one of the fragments hit its central structure. It clinched and the next water pulse dissipated in the air.

Lucy felt the pressure on her mind decrease as the Starmie tried to back up, but she was finally able to press the attack and finish this fight. Now that her opponent wasn't able to correctly use its psychic power to attack her mind, she could think clearly and she remembered her ace.

She had been very busy lately, trying her hardest to notice everything that she was able to see during her travels with the human. She had been thinking about her heritage, the potential of psychic powers and the power of her mind.

During her latest engagement with the Growlithes, her powers had expanded once again. A new theory had formed in her head and she had been sitting on it for quite some time now. And here was finally the moment where she was able to use if effectively; seeing as it wouldn't have had any effect on fire-types.

She spun around on her hind leg, making a few fast-paced pirouettes and then waving her arms at the water-type. It was the same movement she made when creating a reflective barrier and this time, her attack would be more powerful than a simple defensive maneuver.

After all…the grass-attack Magical leave was very effective against water.

A gale of white-coloured crescents appeared out of nowhere and she understood that she was fueling the attack with both her mind as her body. The Starmie was still too preoccupied with the previous barrage to effectively block this one and it took the full brunt of the attack.

"Starmie!" Misty cried as she witnessed her pokemon getting KO'ed by her. Serves her right for insulting both her trainer and her friend like that!

She noticed that she was breathing heavily and that she her legs were about to give way. There was nowhere to land safely; she had demolished the bridge as per her trainer's orders and now there was water everywhere. She didn't want to get wet, she didn't-

Strong armoured hands wrapped around her thin frame and her body stopped moving just an inch above the water. She carefully looked up and saw her trainer –perched perfectly on one of the seven-inch thick support poles that used to carry the bridge. His balancing was as good as hers was and he weighed at least ten times more than she did!

"You alright?" he asked her. It felt kind of…good…to be in his strong, capable hands. To be able to just relax and lie back while he kept her safe…

She wondered how his hands would feel like without his armour. He was being so gentle on her with his crushing, unyielding gauntlets on that she couldn't help but think about the touch of his bare skin on hers.

That wasn't weird was it? Was she blushing?

'_**Thanks…'**_ She softly said and looked away while he carried her away in both of his hands. She quickly glanced at the orange-headed lady's general direction and was relieved to see that the woman was cradling the unsightly Starmie in her arms.

She would have noticed her blush right away; all females could see it when another one was stricken by weird thoughts.

"Anytime." The soldier responded and she felt reassured by his voice. He would not notice…he would remain in the dark and that was okay.

'_**We won right?'**_

"Yes. Yes we won."

In the back she could hear Nidorino and Vulpix shouting with happiness and proud. It was good to know that –no matter their problems- they still cared for each other.

With such strong team cohesion and spirit, there wouldn't be an opponent that they couldn't beat, right?

Right?

~0~

"_With the destruction of the Pokemon Mansion some time ago, the subject has effectively escaped our grasp. Our latest reports indicate that the leader of Team Rocket has somehow acquired it but…we are skeptical."_

"_Yes. Think of the carnage…the anarchy…"_

- conversation between two scientists on Cinnebar island, two days before slipspace incident.

~0~

**So here is chapter 15! Admit it; some of you were scared that I wouldn't update this story once I started another one right?**

**Right?**

**I have to say that I am not satisfied with the latter halve of the fight. I have the feeling that it wasn't detailed enough…that it lacked…muscles? Coverage? Meh, just thinking out loud.**

**I have written up to 15 chapters now and just recently covered the second gym fight –I can say that I am certainly not trying to rush it.**

**Well…not much to say about now. I can only say please review the story, even if you only have: small remarks, minor annoyances, plot holes that need clarifying, comments on grammar, basic feedback or speculations.**

**Everything is welcome and I will treat every reviewer with the basic human rights.**

**(if you don't want me to comment on a certain review, please let me know and I shall refrain from commenting on it in pre-story babbling)**

**Until next time!**


	16. My duty pt 1

**After having updated the other story with a long proper chapter, it is time for this one to receive a new addition! Also, I have determined why some people are having a hard time finding this story on the website. I rated this story M for mature content –something that everyone can imagine, I presume- and the default search function for only lists stories between K and T.**

**Siphon 117:**** you never know…**

**Cthulujr: **** well thank you, that is a lot of praise! I can only hope that I can do the same to other readers. And yes, English is my second language.**

**Captiosus: ****perhaps…**

**Yutyrannus: ****don't worry, the human companion isn't permanent. **

**Solar Jarl The Cannon King 44K: **

**Hmmm…not very much to babble about. To the story!**

0~

"Speech" human speech

"**Speech" **Pokemon speech

"_Speech" _Pokemon speech to humans.

"SPEECH" Pokedex speech.

'_**Speech'**_ telepathic speech

~0~

Lucy AKA Kirlia, lvl 24- significant moves: teleport, confusion, magical leaf and reflect.

Nidorino, lvl 19- significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick.

Vulpix, lvl 21- significant moves: ember, confuse ray, quick attack and will-o-wisp.

~0~

"_The Spartans have been put through extensive training. They are literally ready for every situation. That means we have a team of thirteen super-soldiers ready for every black and special operation we can execute. It is funny how a bunch of orphans can be put through the same training and still develop different personalities. What is your take on this, Miss Sunfield? Can you elaborate on some of their unusual aspects?"_

~0~

"What is going on here?" A surprised voice yelled. The female soldier had finally shown up; but now that she had, she only thing she had interest in was the amount of damage that the Spartan had done to the gym. Misty didn't realize it yet, but her little swimming pool would need some maintenance.

He moved his balance a bit more to the front and then jumped off the wooden pole he had been standing on. Then he placed Lucy on the floor and took a look around.

"Just passing time." He told the soldier and then waited for Misty to let go of her weird Pokemon and give him the badge.

But when she did recall the creature, her state of mind wasn't exactly the one that he had in mind. "Look at what you did to my gym!" She yelled and placed her hands on her hips. "Do you have any idea what it is going to take me to fix this?"

He simply held up his hand. Of course he had an idea –but he simply didn't care. She wanted her challenger and she had gotten one. Besides; she was responsible for the ruined walls and ceiling. The Kirlia and Vulpix had both simply dodge the incoming attacks –Misty's own Pokemon were responsible for the damage.

Except for the bridge, which destruction lay with him. Again: he didn't care.

Misty stopped mid-rant when she noticed his extended hand and frowned. "You have a lot of nerve…" She said, but then she smiled and walked back to the statue she had been standing on. "But I have to admit…it was a great battle. You have earned it.

She returned to him holding a small black box. "Here is the official Cerulean gym badge!"

And she gave him the little blue token. Great. Another useless piece of gem to prove that he had wasted the time raising and beating animals. He still took it though.

"Ready to move?" He asked the female. She looked at him with a vague expression and sighed. "Sure. Lead the way."

So she accepted his command. Good to know –the last thing he needed was a teammate with insubordination on her mind. He nodded and gestured for his three Pokemon to join him.

'_**Straight to the moving part are we?'**_ Lucy complained.

"You had your rest." He brusquely responded. The psychic frowned but still decided to follow him.

Together, the strange collection of allies left the gym and continued on their way out of Cerulean city. As soon as the Spartan had noticed the next sign that pointed travelers the way, he determined the direction he needed to walk to continue on to Saffron city. First, he needed to go to Vermillion city. From there he could take another route to continue on to Saffron city and approach it from the underside.

"I never caught your name…" The female soldier said in an attempt to get him to divulge information.

"Affirmative." He replied.

A loud sigh indicated that his companion understood the message and she dropped the subject.

'_**You really don't want people to know things about you right?' **_Lucy asked him, but he didn't respond. Now that there was a marine officer native to the planet traveling with them, he would have to restrict their communication to a need-to-know basis. Which meant to withhold any and all information concerning him, his past, his future, the UNSC and…well, everything really.

Their journey took place in silence from then on. It was a positive aspect from the female, which he could appreciate. She knew when to shut up and simply take things for granted.

Unlike some companions.

'_**Why won't you respond to me?' **_Lucy asked him with a frustrated voice. He could understand why she was getting angry with him; he was ignoring her to withhold information from the soldier traveling with them. And she only understood the ignoring part. So how would he tell her that he didn't want to let his companion know about things without letting said person know that he was withholding information on purpose?

"Privacy." He simply stated and hoped that the Kirlia would understand. From the corner of his eye he could see that Vulpix was looking at him with a curious expression. Since her open display of affection –because that was what it was, according to Lucy- she had been increasingly curious to him and his affairs. It was of no concern though; she was his Pokemon and he could simply order he to stand down when needed.

'_**Are you mad that I keep contacting you in your mind? Because if you are-'**_

This was going in the wrong direction. He still needed to converse with her to allow him to better understand his surroundings. Without her guidance, he would have a more difficult time than if she simply kept telling him things.

"No." He said sharply and his mind raced to think of something that would allow Lucy to understand the situation. Then he realized that he had been talking out loud in his response to her, like he always did. To people not knowing that he was communicating with a Pokemon that could talk with her mind, he would look ridiculous. "I look like I am talking to myself…" He said and hoped that she understood now.

'_**So? It isn't going to lessen our opinion of you…'**_

Damnit. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed the soldier taking the time to take her surroundings in. Don't worry about it lady, he had already determined that the coming two-hundred meters were clear of hostiles. But it did give him an idea though; if he could get her distracted properly, he could whisper his problem to Lucy and she would definitely understand.

He made the gesture he had taught her, which meant that she needed to join him in close proximity immediately. When he did, she teleported to his shoulder and leaned towards his helmet.

'_**Yes?'**_

"I need a distraction…" He whispered. It was too soft for the soldier to hear it, but just loud enough for Lucy.

'_**For who?'**_ She replied. Hadn't he been clear enough? Did she still not understand him?

"Her…" He added and then gestured with his head in the general direction of the soldier.

'_**Ooooh!' **_Lucy said and then teleported away. Where had she gone? What was she going to do? He knew that he could trust her, but he didn't understand her one bit.

What was her idea of a distraction?

~0~

So her human wanted a distraction? She could give him a proper distraction and simply teleport the female's clothes away. She was certain that it lay within her capabilities and it was interesting to test it out. But she knew how males were; as soon as the prospect of nudity arose, everyone would lose their mind. So if she zapped the newcomer's clothes away, her trainer wouldn't be able to profit from it as much. Besides, Nidorino would probably go crazy.

And it was a terrible thing to do to her, she liked the human and she didn't feel like doing such a mean thing to her. Not without a reason of course. So she would have to settle for the next obvious thing.

She teleported next to Vulpix and contacted her mind. '_**Our trainer needs a little distraction…if you were to suddenly…sneeze…and accidentally set fire to the female´s shoes…then that would be a proper distraction.´**_

Yes. The next obvious thing was setting something on fire.

"**You want me to burn her?"** She replied with a shocked voice. No! That wasn't what she meant!

"**Shhh!" **She whispered quickly and placed a finger to her own mouth to enforce the need for silence.

'_**An innocent little fire to her shoes would distract her for long enough for our trainer to do whatever it is that he needs to do. Besides; she is trained to protect herself from that kind of danger. It will take her only a few seconds to put it out.'**_

Vulpix seemed doubtful still, so Lucy gently petted the curly flocks of hair on her head. "**You trust me, yes?" **She said aloud. Nidorino redirected his rapt attention for the road ahead and she could see that he was listening in. It was alright though; she trusted him.

And he knew nothing.

"**I do!"** The vixen replied instantly without a doubt. That brought Lucy from her apropos for a few seconds. That the Vulpix had such unwavering confidence in her…it was amazing.

She concentrated and again contacted the fire-type in her mind. '_**So will you help us out?'**_

The Pokemon looked doubtful for a moment, but no longer. "**I will!" **She said with determination in her voice.

"**Good!"** Lucy and prepared to teleport to Math again.

"**What is that about?" **Nidorino asked, but she simply told him to "**wait and see" ** and then she teleported again. Her aim was perfect and she landed on top of the armoured human's bucket-

-she meant head- and waited for the chaos to start.

She was in the perfect vantage point to witness the fruits of her amazingly smart idea. The female soldier was looking at her with a questioning expression on her face. Lucy could feel her curiosity as to her psychic activity –her teleporting- but she didn't pursue it.

Then she saw Vulpix lag behind for a few moments, just enough for the female to overtake her. Then the vixen actually sneezed. What was that little thing an amazing actress!

A small ember escaped her mouth and seared the soldier's boots. She gave a surprised scream and grabbed for her leg.

'_**Go!'**_Lucy then told her trainer. He had his distraction and now he would have to sort his own plans out.

"I can't trust her with any information." He quickly said. "The nature of your questions and my answers is too sensitive."

So he did trust her with his 'sensitive' information but not his fellow soldier? How cute. But what it meant wasn't cute –even if she temporarily forgot about the paranoid meaning behind his words and the fact that he still didn't trust anyone with the understanding about his past, it still meant that they wouldn't be able to keep communicating.

Or she would have to instruct him in the ways of speaking with his mind. And she enjoyed the little fact that he looked like he was talking to himself everytime he responded to her. So what would she do?

Well…as his Pokemon, there was only one thing she could do really. '_**You can always…communicate with…your mind?'**_ She carefully said.

Her trainer remained silent, but from the corner of her eye she could see the female human kneeling down to grab Vulpix. But instead of reprimanding her for the near-burn that she had caused, the soldier proceeded to pet and hug the little vixen.

It was a relieve to Lucy that she hadn't caused the Vulpix trouble –although she might not have agreed with that. Obvious cuddling was a thing that _she_ liked, it didn't neccesarily have to go for the fire-type as well.

"How long did you know." Her trainer said. What? How long did she know what?

'_**What do you mean?'**_ She asked him, not sure as what to expect.

"How long did you know that was a possibility?" He said. She didn't like the sound of that; it was almost as if he was getting angry with her. Again. She tried to peer in his mind and get a bead on what was to come. Even though his mind was so reinforced and well-protected, there were simple things that he couldn't hide from her. He wasn't actively hiding his thoughts from her, so certain things were lying out in the open for her see. Things like feelings and emotions, for example. Whenever she tried to peer into the mind of creatures around her, she chose to do so. It was a conscious decision. But in proximity to living beings, their emotions and feelings unraveled out of themselves. They had done that ever since she had been a Ralts and they continued to do so, only now she could control it better.

Her trainer didn't have such things as emotions. There were only feelings that she could understand from him. Right now, one of those feelings was very similar to…what exactly?

For some weird reason, most of the feelings and sensations that she was able to extract from her trainer didn't make any sense to her. It was really unnerving to experience something that her trainer felt or thought and then being unable to comprehend whatever it was.

The closest that she was able to link his current sensation was disapproval. Was he angry with her?

'_**It is not a question about knowing…it is a question about understanding.'**_ She said, hoping that the cryptic remark would be enough to let her off the hook for a while.

"Are you two alright?" the female asked them. Well…things weren't exactly going according to plan…

"Yes." The trainer replied.

Come on? Like anyone was going to believe that!

"How do you do that?" He then said. Was he referring to the whole mind-speaking thing or to her withholding that information from him? Well…there couldn't really be any doubts about that. He wasn't the type to hold long grudges.

'_**We'll begin practicing today when we reach the next village, okay?'**_ She said.

"Will we?" He replied. She realized that she had just issued an order to HER trainer, instead of the other way around. Whoops. What would be the smartest thing to do now? Ehm…

She saluted and tried to make the situation slightly less awkward. '_**Yes sir!'**_

He grew silent and his golden-vision turned towards her. She knew that relocating to his shoulder and subjecting herself to his painful gaze was a bad idea. Had she said something weird again? Didn't soldiers like it when people called them sir?

He shook his head ever so slightly and returned to watching the road ahead. They had almost reached Vermilion city and Lucy could already see the collection of buildings lying ahead. The female human had let Vulpix go and she had quickly run ahead to join her trainer in the lead.

"**That was terrible!"** The vixen cried when she had caught up with them. "**I distracted her, but then she did those terrible things!"**

That was actually kind of funny. Who knew that a fluffy little fox didn't like being cuddled?

~0~

There was something wrong; he could feel it. It was something in the atmosphere…the same thing that usually warned him of an impending attack. But what could be wrong? He could see the city from his current position. There weren't any people walking around the town, which was very weird. The city was larger than any city on this planet he had seen before, but that didn't say much.

The Spartan was standing on a hill with multiple trees surrounding him. If he could get closer to the city, he might be able to see what it was that gave him this bad feeling. But to do so, he would have to leave his companions behind for a few minutes. His Pokemon would understand, but the soldier? He didn't know whether she would accept his decision or decide to join him. She had better obey him.

He knelt down next to the two outmost trees and held his fist in the air –his gesture for 'stop'. His Pokemon immediately stopped moving and both Nidorino and Lucy took cover, but Vulpix looked around and seemed a bit lost. Then she decided that it was probably the best to simply join her fellow creatures and hid behind a bush.

"What do you see?" The soldier asked him. She too had stopped and dropped into a crouch, pulling her sidearm in case she needed it. It was her only weapon and the Spartan knew that when she would need it, she would be in trouble. He had only four magazines left for his assault rifle and seven for his battle rifle. It should be enough to last multiple engagements, but if he were to engage in guerilla activities he would need more ammunition. And more weapons.

"We got trouble…" The Spartan said and continued watching the city. It was located near a harbor, thus being a city that probably used commercial techniques to raise money. The fact that such a large city looked completely empty at such a time during the day indicated that something was very wrong.

There should have been people walking around and he should be able to see them. Maybe the terrorist organization Rocket had already staged an attack on this city? This could be a major hostage situation for all he knew.

"What is the maximum distance you can communicate telepathically with others?" He asked Lucy.

'_**Ehm…ten…twenty meters top.' **_She stated.

He looked down at the hill and noticed a solitary tree standing approximately fifteen meters away from his current position. That would have to do.

"I will scout ahead. When given the signal, tell the rest to come join me." He then said and pulled his battle rifle out."

"Acknowledged." The female soldier replied, not taking her eyes off the city. Why did she reply? He wasn't talking to her.

Lucy looked at him and he returned her gaze. Apparently she too was confused by the soldier's reply instead of her own. '_**Understood.'**_ Lucy said.

Now that that had been taken care of, he could get to work. Still crouching, he moved slowly towards the tree downhill. Moving slowly for a Spartan was still faster than normal people could run, so it didn't take him very long to reach the tree unnoticed.

No return fire…no shouts of alarm…he hadn't been noticed. Now came the difficult part; a hundred meter dash past open terrain. Of course there were a few pieces of cover between him and the city; a small pond, a series of small and thin trees…and that was about it.

Still, he had covered larger ground with less cover and multiple Wraith tanks zeroing in on him. He was confident he could cover a hundred meters without dying.

He spun around the tree –rifle at the ready- and started his run. Moving one feet right in front of the other, he soon accelerated to a speed of thirty miles per hour. There wasn't any incoming fire to slow him down and neither did he hear any screaming or sounds of alarm. He was still holding his battle rifle and he kept scanning the city while approached it. There was a large, hastily erected wooden wall blocking his way. The top of the structure was blocked by barbed wire and there were multiple signs nailed to the blockade, but he couldn't read them from his current distance.

Within ten seconds of charging down the hill and taking minor cover between the available trees, he had approached the wall close enough that he could actually read the signs now: "Keep out, intruders will be shot."

That was very promising. He ignored the 'warnings' and kept moving. He impacted on the wooden wall and smashed through it without difficulty. As soon as he had cleared the way, he swept his rifle across the rooftops and windows to check for hidden gunman or ambushes.

He couldn't detect any, so he turned around and gave the signal. He had no doubt about Lucy's eyesight and he knew that she could see him. The team would proceed down the hill like he had and would take up position next to him. It was up to him to get them there safely.

While his companions moved to Vermilion city, he did a double check on the available houses and then slowly moved through the city. There was a large open field to his right, surrounded with trees. To his right were multiple buildings and a few meters beyond those, the deep blue colour of the sea.

He had actually hit the coast. It was his third day on this strange planet and only now had he reached the coast.

He spotted a large cruise-ship up ahead. That was even weirder. Why was there such a large ship lying docked when the town was empty? Perhaps there was some sort of gathering onboard of the ship. But why had they seen fit to try and barricade the city like that? It wasn't exactly a protective method for wild Pokemon –they couldn't read. And they would simply blast through the puny wooden wall like he had.

'_**We are coming up to…your six? Our friend asked me to tell you not to shoot us.'**_

He remained silent as he moved up, pausing only to scoop a small doll of the ground. It was shaped like a yellow rodent with red cheeks and it looked like it was at least ten years old. It had seen its wear and tear, but it was still in one piece.

Children usually carried those things…why would a child drop his doll in a place like this? Not exactly the most desolated of locations…

"Damn you move fast!" A voice behind him said. He recognized it as friendly and resisted the urge to twist around and unload his gun. "I have never seen humans move so fast before."

He didn't respond, but he could guess where this was going. "Mind telling me how you did that?"

He sighed and turned to look at her. "Look, Miss…" What was her name again?

"Arckson." She said and frowned. "And you have more secrets than you let on."

Yes, good of her to notice that. "Any and all Intel regarding me or my operations is classified on a need-to-know basis. Which means-"

"Which means to shut up and drop the subject, yes I know." She said.

Good.

He took another look at the cruise-ship and hit the magnification on his HUD. He zoomed in on one of the visible windows and was not surprised to see a dark shape walking past it. So there was life in this village- he just needed to look at the right place. Now he was stuck with the question whether said life was hostile or not. And there was only one way of finding out, really.

He would have to move in and make contact. Great.

"Move out." He told his squad and proceeded to move through the village. His legs moved automatically and he picked up speed again. He swept his rifle back and forth to keep scanning his surroundings while he charged past the buildings and one large warehouse.

There was nobody to shoot…at him.

Eventually he hit the docks and the only thing standing between him and the boat, was a small iron door that provided entrance to said boat.

But the moment he took another step forward, something in the back of his mind flared to life and he realized that he was in danger. He rolled to his side and took cover behind one of the large poles standing there and was just in time to see a gun appear from the rail of the boat. It waved around and sprayed the docks, sending bullets flying through the air and nearly destroyed the wooden docks.

"Contact!" He yelled and jumped out from his cover. He noticed that the gun looked similar to a very old WWII design. Weird how weaponry almost always coevolved amongst different people. His training kicked in and the world slowed down and sped up simultaneously. The door at the entrance of the boat flew open and three people appeared- clad in the green-brown outfits that signified soldiers. Two of them were holding bolt-action rifles and the last one –a smaller soldier- held a pistol.

They were obviously hostile and they even started to take aim at him. Two of them shouted something, but it wasn't important what they said. They were trying to shoot him. But he was so much faster.

The Spartan aimed down the scope and squeezed off four bursts- one hit the gun that was spraying the general area from high above and the next three downed two of the soldiers standing in the hall. They dropped and –probably by complete chance or by previous momentum- one of the bodies fell in front of the last person, blocking his last burst and sparing his life.

The first shot had knocked the gun out of the hands of whoever was holding it and it clatteted to the ground. Before the bodies had chance to hit the ground he charged forwards and delivered a flying kick to the lifeless persons, sending them flying through the hall and into another locked door. By the time he had neutralized both threats and entered the boat, his team had stumbled onto the docks.

'_**Math! Are you alright!' **_ Lucy's concerned voice echoed through his mind.

"Copy that." He said, feeling mildly annoyed that the Pokemon kept on using his name instead of calling him what he was. He still had a hostile element to take care of; the last person hadn't been killed by his fire.

He walked over to the remaining hostile and found that he was trapped underneath the bodies of his friends.

"What happened?" The female yelled when she joined him in the boat. "Who were those people!" He had no idea, but it was time to find out. He kicked the two bodies away and looked at the soldier who had tried to shoot him. It was a young female. She couldn't have been much older than…sixteen? Seventeen? He didn't care.

"Please…" She breathed. He noticed that one shot actually did hit her; she had a bloody hole in her right shoulder and it was bleeding profoundly. She was trying to rise and one of her hands reached for him, almost pleadingly. "H-help…me…"

She was an enemy soldier that had tried to kill him. She is lucky; had he been covenant, her death would have been more painful. And violent.

He aimed his weapon at her head and then pulled the trigger. The trio of bullets slammed straight into her head and knocked her body down. Two of the bullets penetrated the steel underneath her and the third simply ricocheted off of the ground and flattened itself against the ceiling. After the three-round burst, the hallway into the ship was surprisingly quiet.

His team had finally caught up to him and by the time they were entering the ship, he had already moved up to the second door.

"Oh god!" The lieutenant Commander yelled and she brought her hands to her mouth. He paid her no mind and continued with his job.

"Move out." He yelled to his team and grabbed the door. It had a classic rotating lock, which was signature on ships like these. He twisted it open within a second and then he kicked the door in –already having his weapon at the ready and mind set to kill.

No shots were fired, no screams betrayed their presence. The next room was a large hall, littered with small chairs and tables. "All clear!" He called and waited for a response. It didn't come.

He turned around and was surprised to see his human companion was still standing with her back to a wall, hands clasped in front of her mouth and her own pistol lying on the ground. Her skin was looking deadly pale and tears had formed in her eyes. What was wrong? Had she been shot?

"Status report!"

Nidorino slowly walked past the corpse, pausing only to sniff at its head. Then he gave a slow wining sound and quickly moved on, joining the Spartan in the next room.

'_**You killed her…´**_ Lucy said in his kind. She sounded…off. Like her voice was trembling…why would that be? '_**You shot her dead!'**_

The girl had barged outside with a gun together with two other men, who had actually gotten to aim their weapons at him. At the same time someone else was trying to kill him from a vantage position. She had chosen her side and she had chosen poorly.

Vulpix was sitting next to the Lieutenant Commander, her tails were covering her head and she was softly whining.

"Status!" He repeated and waited for his companions to acknowledge his request. What was going on Why were they ignoring him? Part of him simply wanted to leave them standing there and move on, but the other half decided that Lucy was too valuable to leave behind.

"She is dead…" The soldier whispered. Lucy was slowly walking up to the body and then stopped at the girl's head. She knelt down and Math briefly wondered as to what she would do. Then he noticed her reaching out for the eyes and he understood what she meant to do. It was completely useless and irrelevant to their current situation; they had to clear the ship as fast as possible and find the person that was responsible for these events.

The Kirlia slowly and tenderly reached for the corpse's eyes and closed them. Now the girl looked like she was sleeping; deeply and peacefully.

Were it not for the hole in her head.

"Why did you do that!" Arckson said. She too sounded like she was trembling; what was with everybody today? Was it because he had shot the hostile soldier? What was wrong with that? Her eyebrows met in the center and her mouth was a grim line. That usually meant that someone was angry.

"She was just a child! You could have given her a chance, you could have-you-"She was so out of her mind that she couldn't even form coherent sentences.

'_**You killed a child…'**_ Lucy slowly said, her voice filled with venom. '_**She didn't even hurt you!'**_

The girl hadn't been exactly a child, but he could still understand the controversy over his action. They hadn't seen the man attempting to suppress him from above while a three-man cell tried to flush him out of cover. He was a soldier; returning fire and killing hostile soldiers was basically what he did his entire life. When some teenager who had chosen her life poorly attempted to stop him, why should he show any mercy?

"She was an enemy soldier about to open fire. Why is her death so important?"

The Kirlia got to her feet and stared at him. Vulpix was still whimpering with her tails covering her head and Nidorino was moving restlessly from one room between another.

"She couldn't defend herself! She was a helpless hostage!"

"I don't take hostages. Nor prisoners."

"But she was just a kid!"

"Age is irrelevant. Intent isn't."

The female looked at him with a shocked expression. "Where are you even from!?"

"Somewhere very far away."

"Stop trying to be the cryptic soldier, you just committed a serious crime!"

He was getting tired of people telling him what to do. This woman would either accept his command, or he would kick her out of the team. No compensating. "I removed a threat." He stated, slowly feeling his patience running out. "She tried to kill us and I eliminated her. As a soldier, you should understand."

"Then I am probably not a soldier, because there is nothing I understand about killing children!" She bit back. "If this is how you resolve every situation then I don't want to be anywhere near you!"

Fine by him. "Then leave."

"I might just do that!" She said. Her face looked seriously angry. Even he could see that.

"Lucy? Move out."

'_**No.'**_

What?

"Excuse me?"

'_**I said no! I have been putting up with you for a very long time and I accepted all your shortcomings. But here…here you crossed a line! ´**_

He had? All this time, Lucy had been by his side. She had pulled him through the world and helped him when his knowledge was insufficient. He had saved her and protected her and fed her…they were partners. She wasn't just an animal; she was more than that. Of every single human he had ever met, no one had been as important to him as the Pokemon Lucy was.

But killing enemy soldiers to fulfill missions…to act for the greater good of humanity that was his purpose. It was everything he did. If she couldn't find peace with that…if she wasn't compatible as his partner…then he would have to steel his heart once again and leave her behind.

It struck him as odd that after everything that had happened and everything he had done, he actually felt bad for abandoning a wild…his pokemon. For some reason, she was important to him. He had been pushing his own needs and feelings away for so long that he wasn't even sure what they WERE. And when Lucy came around…psychic and telepathic Lucy…she had been hitting the nail right on its head when it came to him. She understood him better than he did in some ways.

He didn't understand why she was important to him but she was. He didn't want to leave her behind…he really didn't. But he had to. If he were to keep functioning as a soldier –as a Spartan- he would have to keep focus.

"We can work this out…" He started, no longer caring that the soldier could hear him. "Just come with me and we'll make this work."

She slowly shook her head. '_**No…we can't do that. Not anymore.'**_

He sighed and accepted the situation as it was. There was nothing he could do and he knew it. But…Lucy was with the soldier now. She was as good a replacement as anyone was when it came to taking care of Pokemon, he guessed. He would eventually ditch the Pokemon himself and now that they were with someone that could take care of them, he no longer had to worry about splitting up with them. Now he could focus on getting back to the UNSC.

"Lucy…" He said and extended his hand to her. He would give her one more chance and then he would leave.

'_**My species are linked with their trainers…' **_She started. Her voice sounded…devoid of emotion. Restrained and carefully kept. The Lieutenant Commander kept her mouth shut and Vulpix had stopped making her little whining noises. Nidorino was keeping a careful eye on him. It occurred to him that Lucy had to be important to them as well as she was to him. They had really formed a right team. They would be better off with the female than they would be with him.

'_**Kirlia grow beautiful when their trainers are happy…and we can sense their emotions. When they are happy…we are. When they are sad…we are. Some persons actually think that we grow more powerful as our trainers grow more spirited. '**_

He knew where this was going. She had told him this before –how his emotions were linked to hers. He should have known better…of all the people to become her trainer, the one without any emotions or spirit had. He had hurt her just by becoming her trainer.

But her powers were unmatched when compared to other Pokemon. She had defeated every single creature they had encountered and she was the happiest person he had ever met.

And…well, she had grown quiet beautiful. Were Kirlia so exceptional that even a remarkable individual as Lucy was below-average?

"You weren't the only one affected by our partnership…" He softly said and turned around. He had a ship to clear…cities to reach. Terrorist organizations to take care of.

"So that's it?" The soldier yelled at him. "You are just going to continue on?"

Yes. What else was there to do for him now?

"Yes. Take care of them." And with that he readied his rifle again and continued deeper into the ship.

~0~

The fact that there were multiple hostile soldiers on a cruise-ship that was so obviously designed with civilians in mind was proof of his theories. There was a terroristic organization behind all of this; it was either Rocket or a militant group. And he could clear both of them out. He had cut through many rooms, encountering no more people than he had killed when boarding the ship. It was weird how there were so few people onboard of a ship this large.

What was even weirder was that absolutely not a single light was working. The ship was shrouded in darkness and silence. And he had used that to his advantage. He could see almost perfect in the dark; the few enemy soldiers that he did encounter couldn't. He didn't even need to fire his weapon once; close combat and stealth tactics had been enough to disable all of them.

He hadn't killed any of them though; he wasn't too sure why that would be. It would be so easy to just murder him with his knife or bare hands and then move on, but something kept preventing him from making that fatal move. He didn´t know what that was and he didn´t understand why it was even affecting him. All that he did know was that he needed information. Again.

He moved like a shadow; without sounds. Without anyone seeing him. He was there and then he was gone again. Eventually he encountered an intersection. He could head ten meters to the right and around the corner or he could go ten meters to his left and around the corner. Both of the ways led in the same general direction: ahead. But what struck him as odd was that the piece of wall in front of him –twenty meters long in total- had at least three doors. What room was so large that it would need three doors?

He could try opening them and quickly clearing the room…but if they were rigged…

…his armour could take the blow. He decided in a split-second to clear the large room and then moved to the outer-most left door. He leaned against it and checked the magazine of his assault rifle; it would be more useful in clearing the room and he still had a fresh clip for that specific gun.

He counted to three and then pivoted around, breaking the door open like a piece of cardboard on matchsticks all the while making awful lot of noise. He analyzed the situation before him in the blink of an eye and quickly concluded that he had found the civilians.

The large room that he had stumbled into was also black as the light, but still he could see everything that transpired in there. There were at least a hundred people all stowed away in there; some of them were lying on the ground, unmoving and others were hiding underneath the many tables that were scattered all across its interior. But most of them were simply sitting on the ground, staring blankly ahead or comforting their beloved ones.

He could hear some children crying and many people whispering, but those didn't count as noises. The room was silent.

Scattered across the room were multiple hostiles armed with the same aged design of machine guns. They were wearing backpacks with military trinkets and some of them sported flashlights that were aimed at the floor. He counted half a dozen armed guards walking amongst the civilians –all of which had to be hostages, according to their stances and quiet behaviour. Besides; who would need to guard a blacked-out ship with a large room containing a hundred people with armed men?

At the sound of him breaking into the room, many peoples turned around and looked at him. But many more people simply ducked to the ground with their hands covering their heads and necks. So their experiences with people opening doors weren't positive? All the more reason for him to assume that they were being kept as prisoners.

The armed guards also turned towards him, but they were moving so slow that he could have sprinted across the room before they could even pull the trigger. He had obviously caught them off guard, but how long would that last? How long before a confused man would start gunning down innocent people? He had to take them out quick before he lost the element of surprise.

Breaching and clearing rooms filled with armed hostiles always excited both him and his fellow Spartans. The prospect of barging into a room and shooting every single target in a single moment of confusion and chaos was enough to jumpstart many instincts and drive away all doubts and feelings, leaving a clear and undisturbed mind only working on Spartan-time.

So the moment he had analyzed the tactical layout of the room, he aimed down his sights and began taking shots. At the same time he moved into the room, lessening the distance between him and his targets. Everytime he pulled the trigger, an enemy fell. His rifle jumped from one target to the other and in the timespan of two seconds, all six targets fell to the ground. Killed with headshots.

He didn't stop at that though; if there were more enemies aboard then they would have heard his shots. It was safe to assume that the enemy knew they were being attacked –the incident at the docks was loud enough. But they had no reason to believe that they had been infiltrated so deeply, up to now at least.

He sprinted across the room, jumping between the frightened civilians like a deer would clear rocks and fallen trees. If he reached the other side before more hostiles entered, he could catch them off guard too. Finally the rules of this planet had turned to his favor. Tactics and strategies worked again and now he could act like he would when engaging normal enemies; Insurrectionists and Covenant.

He reached the other wall and smashed into the door. It broke off its hinges and tumbled to the ground, but he simply rolled over his shoulder and kept on moving. He could see light up ahead and if there was one room which would need light, then it was the room where the leader of the terrorists had taken residence to discuss their matters.

Whatever those were.

He had spent six rounds clearing the previous room. That meant he still had more than enough ammunition to clear the next one. He didn't want to waste any ammo by reloading prematurely; he would wait until the ammo-counter dropped to zero before spending another magazine.

He reached the next room and noticed that the door was opened slightly; there was just enough room for light to pour out of it and he could hear people talking. They sounded like they were discussing recent events. The fact that they were in lit room in the middle of a ghost-ship filled with hostages, signaled that they were in fact the people responsible for the mess.

"I heard shots…what happened back there?"

"No idea…should we check it out?"

"What if those idiots shot some of the hostages?"

"Silence!"

The last voice had an air of command, he could hear that. There were at least four different people inside according to the different voices and responses and he could hear the faint breathing and whimpering of another batch of hostages. Why were these people kept in the room with them and not in the room back where he had found the majority of the city's population?

"Didn't you hear that ruckus? We're compromised!"

These terrorists had military training. He had heard enough though. He would attempt to capture these hostiles and make them talk, whatever the cost. He ripped the door open and moved inside the room with his rifle at the ready. "Drop your weapons!" He yelled, but then he noticed something which could be a potential snag in his operation. Two of the men had already picked up civilians to use as living shields and another one had a pistol aimed at the head of another one.

The last one opened the door behind him and fled outside, bathing the room temporarily in light. He had to be the leader –leaving his subordinates to clear up his mess and fleeing himself.

"Throw your weapon to the ground!"

"Surrender!"

Two of the terrorists were still acting like they had control over the situation, but the last one was trembling visibly. He didn't have a good grip on his hostage and he didn't look ready to pull the trigger when needed to.

This was situation he had only encountered twice before. The first time he had been able to take out the hostage-keepers with some well-placed shots, but the second time had gone hairy. Five of the seven hostages had died in the action.

His first thought was to simply shoot the hostiles and then see if the civilians would remain unharmed, but then he remembered how his last operation shoot-first-ask-later had turned out. He had literally scared the only person on this planet that wanted to help him away. Not that he couldn't handle the situation on his own, of course. But that simple fact prevented him from pulling the trigger –he had to try and save the hostages.

"Drop your weapons or you will be shot!" He called out. That would be his last warning. If the terrorists didn't comply, he would shoot them.

"Drop your gun bastard! Or I will plug a new hole in this pretty lady's head!" The man furthest away from him yelled. He had a teenage girl in his arm, pointing his sidearm directly at her temple. If he shot him, the sudden muscle-spasms would ensure that the trigger would be pulled.

And he would have killed another kid. Not acceptable; this was exactly the kind of situation had he needed to review his duty as a soldier. He had sworn to protect all of humanity. These people were innocent civilians, kept hostile by a rogue militant group. If he acted inappropriately, these people would die. He had no choice but to ensure their safety, whatever the cost.

"Drop it now!" The other man yelled from his own position. His stance was worse than his colleague's and if he were to die, the ensuring fire wouldn't neccesarily kill his hostage.

He could either bluff his way out of this or drop his weapon and surrender. That was never an option. Neither was bluffing; even though this group had accepted a young girl in their ranks as soldier…perhaps he could try?

"Your friends are dead." He said. "They died in the same way you will: using an innocent person as a shield."

He couldn't see whether his words hit home, but he would have to trust on the psychological side of this engagement. His large imposing appearance, his weapon aimed directly at them and the fact that he had killed most of the hostile soldiers to get here. They should know that; there was no way he would have been able to reach them without murdering his way past their buddies.

"You gonna die here man! You dead!" the man replied, pressing the gun even tighter against his victim's head.

The Spartan could see a potential solution, but to do so he would first have to scare the trembling guy away. He would either pull the trigger out of fear or not at all, but he needed to push him a little further.

"No. You can't hurt me and I don't care for those people." He said. He hated talking this much, but right now it was necessary for his plan to succeed.

The man that was subject to his psychological warfare was trembling even more.

"If I surrender…will you let me go?"

That was the spirit. He looked the man in his eyes and noticed that the guy wasn't even that old; he had to be fresh out of his teens. Not a teenager anymore, but neither a full adult. An adolescent.

"Shut the hell up you idiot!" His companion yelled, but the Spartan had different plans.

"Let him go and you live." He said. The terrorist's companions didn't look very happy with that choice; he could see them making eye-contact with each other. Then, by some unspoken form of communication, the cowardly man dropped his hostage and turned towards the exit.

"You traitor!" The man without a human shield screamed and turned around to shoot his former ally in the back. That moment of chaos was what the Spartan had been waiting for; he sighted on the girl's leg and squeezed off a shot. The round hit her in her lower leg and she screamed with pain and shock. Her legs were no longer able to keep her upright and she collapsed on the ground, falling out of the grip of her assailant.

By that time the super-soldier had already taken aim at the man without a living shield and shot him in the head. Then he quickly turned to the terrorist with the largest mouth. The man was still in the process of being surprised by the sudden loss of his hostage and he was just about to move his pistol when a 7.62 mm armour-piercing round tore its way through his head, spraying the wall behind him with gore.

The two men fell almost simultaneously to the ground and then the only sounds in the room were those of the crying girl and several other hostages. Most of them were sobbing in silence or trying to calm others, it appeared that the terrorists had taken the time to select a few people to take with them to their little talking room because the main amount of hostages were still back in the main room.

Why would that be?

He knelt next to the girl he had shot in her leg and tried to think of a way to calm her down. Even though he had shot her, she didn't really seem to mind. For some reason she was not crawling away from him, screaming for to leave or even trying to hide from him. She simply sat there on the ground, holding her bleeding leg and trying not to cry too hard.

He grabbed his combat knife and then cut a large piece of clothing from the nearest corpse.

"Are you alright?" He asked in the general direction of the hostages. They had just been through a very difficult time and he did just shoot one of them. If he didn't communicate with them in a way, they might grow angry with him and that would make his mission even more complicated.

`Y-you shot me!" The girl muttered. It was obvious that she didn't like what he did and he could imagine why.

"I had to. There was no other way to save your life." He said, taking care to tell her that she was alive and that he had saved her. It would prevent anyone from alienating him. Now he just needed to help her recover from the shot and the blood-loss. He grabbed the strap of clothing he had cut off and gently wrapped it around her leg. The bullet had exited the wound via the back so he didn't have to pluck the projectile out of her limb.

"Keep pressure on the wound and refresh the bandage after every hour." He said and decided that he had done enough. He had to chase after the leader and take him out.

"Promise me that you take the bastard down!" One of the hostages said. He took a closer look at the person who spoke up and noticed that it was an elderly person. So a retired woman wanted him to kill the terrorist leader? Interesting.

"He'll pay." He said and then turned towards the exit. The target had a head-start, but he was a Spartan. Nobody could evade him and he would never lose his guy.

He kicked the door open and started the chase.

~0~

**And the second two-parter in the story has been submitted. I wanted to do the entirety of Vermillion city in one part, but then I realized that it would most likely take too long to make it. So I decided to split it up in two chapters. For those of you who have gotten used to chapters of 10K words: I am sorry, but I really need to split this chapter up in 2 parts. You will understand when part 2 comes up.**


End file.
